


Strike the Harp

by prettybirdy979



Series: Pure Imagination [3]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: (sorta) - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Magic, Christmas Fluff, Christmas With Family, Family Secrets, Family Shenanigans, Fluff, Gen, Light Angst, Magic Revealed, Meet the Family, Pre-Canon, Secret Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-08 23:16:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5516849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettybirdy979/pseuds/prettybirdy979
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Matt's been invited to Foggy's for Christmas, his first ever magical one (his Dad didn't do big displays of magic and well, nuns and magic don't really mix). He's excited; it's going to be amazing.</p><p>There's just one problem... Foggy may have implied to his family that Matt had no magic. </p><p>Oops?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been written for a while but I decided that Christmas was the perfect time to post it. There's two chapters, I'll post the other tomorrow.
> 
> Thanks to PipMer for looking this over!
> 
> Title is from 'Deck the Halls' - "Strike the harp and join the chorus". For more on this AU see my [tumblr](http://prettybirdy979.tumblr.com/tagged/DD-Magical-AU/chrono)

Matt’s listening to a lecture when Foggy stumbles in three hours later than he’d said he’d be, smelling of doughnuts and coffee. He collapses into his bed and groans causing Matt to smile and take his headphones off. 

‘Long day?’

Foggy rolls over. ‘If I ever agree to study with Angelica, kill me.’ Matt laughs outright. ‘Oh you’re laughing but I swear she just tortured us for  _ five hours _ .’

‘It’s just study.’

‘There’s study and there’s what I just went through. Colour coordinated notes. She wouldn’t let any of us leave until everything was colour coordinated.’ There’s the shifting of the bed as Foggy sits up. ‘At least she let us hold the group in the cafe.’

Matt smirks. ‘I figured. I can smell the doughnuts from here. Could that have something to do with how long it took?’ Foggy throws a pillow that Matt doesn’t bother to dodge and falls back to lie on his bed. 

‘You think you’re so funny.’ Foggy rises, making a lot of noise and Matt scrambles to get his laptop out of the way. He only just manages by the time Foggy reaches the side of his bed. ‘Cannonball!’

Foggy drops onto the bed as Matt tries to wriggle out of the way. He’s not quick enough and soon he’s pinned by Foggy’s weight. ‘Foggy!’

‘Do you think you’re funny now?’

With an innocent smile, Matt gets a hand under Foggy’s shirt and wriggles his fingers while pushing his magic. There’s a moment when he can practically hear Foggy’s confusion but then the spell kicks in.

‘No, Matt! No!’ It’s Foggy’s turn to wriggle and cry out as invisible hands tickle his ribs. ‘Matt, no, no, cheating, cheating!’

Matt rolls off his bed and listens to Foggy’s laughter. ‘I think you’ve proof I’m hilarious.’ But he snaps his fingers and ends the spell. Foggy stops moving and lies on Matt’s bed, panting. 

‘Use that on my cousins’ kids at Christmas and you’ll be the most popular person there,’ He says when he gets enough of his breath back to talk. 

Something like delight surges through Matt, matched only by the fear he’s misunderstood Foggy. ‘I’ll be seeing your cousins’ kids at Christmas?’

‘Oh yeah. It’s Dad’s turn to host everyone Christmas Day though we’ll get there a couple of days earlier to help set up. I think Uncl-’

‘We’ll?’ Matt can’t keep the surprise out of his voice. 

The bed creaks as Foggy rolls over so he’s facing Matt. ‘You’re not coming? I thought yo- oh. Shit.’ Matt hears the slap of his palm to his face. ‘I just facepalmed because I totally forgot to ask. Matt, what are you doing for Christmas?’

‘I’m not sure,’ Matt shrugs. ‘Why?’

‘Would you like to come to my place to have a Nelson family Christmas?’

Desire wars with uncertainty in Matt. ‘I won’t be intruding?’  

‘Nope! I think Mom might disown me if I let you spend another Christmas alone in the dorm.’ Foggy shifts nervously and Matt can taste the salt of his sweat. ‘And there’ll be magic?’

A magical Christmas… literally. Even with his Dad, Matt’s never been as… as loose with his magic as Foggy’s family seems to be, following his Dad’s lead in keeping it secret, keeping it hidden. Something that helped once he… once everything happened. 

But that doesn’t mean Matt’s never wanted to be loose with it. ‘Okay. Okay, I’ll come.’

******** 

‘Foggy!’ They’re barely in the door before a woman - Foggy’s Mom Matt assumes - grabs him and pulls him into a hug. Matt stands by the wall awkwardly, waiting. 

‘Mom!’ Luckily for him Foggy always knows when Matt’s uncomfortable. ‘Matt, I’m being hugged within an inch of my life. You’d think I’ve been gone years not months.’

Foggy’s Mom laughs. ‘Isn’t a mother allowed to miss her son?’ But she steps back and Matt senses her turning to look at him. ‘Matt I presume?’

‘Matt Murdock,’ he agrees, holding out a hand for her to shake. ‘I hope I’m not intruding?’

She ignores it to pull him into a hug. ‘I’m Anna. And you couldn’t. Any friend of Foggy’s is welcome here.’ With a pat to his back, she releases him. ‘Foggy, you’re okay with Matt sharing your room?’

Foggy takes Matt’s arm. ‘Fine by me. Matt?’

‘Sounds good.’ 

Anna’s smile is in her voice. ‘Perfect. Edward will be home in an hour and we’ll have dinner then, so go settle in.’ Foggy starts to lead Matt upstairs when she speaks again, ‘Oh and Foggy, I cleaned it up a bit.’ Matt feels his friend’s confused jerk but Anna walks off before he can ask.

‘Foggy?’

‘I just shrugged. No idea why Mom’s suddenly decided to clean my room. Come on, there’s twelve steps.’ Matt trips up the last step. ‘Sorry, thirteen.’ 

Matt whacks him with his cane. ‘Bad guide dog.’ Foggy’s laughing as he narrates the path to his room and opens the door. 

Then he freezes. ‘Oh. Shit.’

‘What? Foggy?’ Matt pushes past his friend and taps his way to the cot beside Foggy’s bed, dropping his bag onto it. ‘What is it?’ he asks as he carefully sits on it.

‘I know why she cleaned.’ Foggy walks over to the wall and runs a hand over it, confusing Matt. ‘Mom took down all my rune cheat sheets.’ He turns to face Matt. ‘Actually, holy shit she took everything.’

Everything? Does Foggy mean… ‘All your magic things? Why?’ 

‘Standard procedure when someone brings home a non-magic partner. We hide everything magic… I guess she figured even though you’re blind it was still worth doing?’

It takes a moment for the meaning of that to stink in and Matt laughs incredulously. ‘You didn’t tell your family I have magic?’

‘I did!’ Foggy sounds outraged then pauses. ‘Well, I thought I did. Maybe?’

Matt collapses back on his cot. ‘What did you say, exactly?’

Foggy throws himself on his bed, causing the springs to groan in protest. ‘Mom asked what you knew about magic; I said you knew ah… well, you know nothing about our kind of magic and she went ‘That’s fine, thanks for telling me’.’

He’s silent as he thinks through that. ‘So you said I knew nothing about your kind of magic? Or… just magic in general?’

‘I may have accidently worded it as magic in general?’

‘So your family is hiding magic from me?’

‘Yes?’

Matt’s silent for a long moment before he starts to laugh. Foggy joins in a second later. ‘Foggy you  _ idiot _ . You have to tell them.’ 

‘I know.’ But Foggy does not sound regretful. Instead he sounds contemplative. ‘I have to tell them.’

This does not sound good. ‘You do. Foggy, you _do_ .’ 

‘But… well, hiding magic is hard. Especially when they’re living or staying with you.’ Matt hums in agreement because yeah, it’s hard to hide magic from someone you like and live with. ‘And I’ve had to hide it a dozen times for my sisters and it _sucks_ .’ 

‘So tell them and they won’t have to hide. Simple.’ 

‘But… what if we don’t tell them?’

Matt considers it. ‘They’ll have to hide magic for no reason?’ 

Foggy sits up. ‘Exactly. And some of the funniest memories I have of family Christmas is of people trying to hide magic.’ Matt suddenly realises where this is going and goes to protest but Foggy doesn’t let him get a word out. ‘Come on Matt, consider it! Us watching them hide magic knowing they can’t spill a secret you already know and them getting practice at hiding magic in a no-risk environment.’

‘Not to mention you get revenge for having to hide magic from your sisters’ partners those ‘dozen’ times,’ Matt says dryly. ‘And you get to laugh at your family.’

Foggy nods. ‘I just nodded. Yes. Come on Matt, it’ll be brilliant.’

Matt sighs. ‘Fine. But if they don’t find us out by Christmas Eve, we’re spilling. I was promised a magical Christmas counselor and I expect you to deliver.’ 

‘Counselor. I like the sound of that.’

Of course Foggy would focus on that. Matt rolls his eyes. ‘Yes, it sounds nice. If you ever want to make it to being a counselor you’ll agree.’ 

‘Okay fine. It’s what, the 21st? If they’ve not figured us out by lunch on Christmas Eve, we’ll tell them. Agreed?’

‘Agreed.’ Matt offers his hand and Foggy shakes it. 

‘This is going to be great.’

********

They briefly unpack - basically open their bags and throw their pyjamas onto their beds for easy access later - before heading back downstairs. Foggy leads Matt around the house, narrating the location of the living room, dining room before pulling him into the kitchen. 

There’s two people in it; Anna and another woman who’s shorter than Foggy but taller than Anna, the faint scent of her apple shampoo making Matt’s noise twitch. Matt can hear the sounds of knives cutting vegetables, smell the beef baking in the oven and practically taste the spices in the air. His mouth is already watering.

‘Di! I thought you were getting home tomorrow.’ Foggy pulls the woman into a hug that she loudly protests. 

‘Got a lift here instead of the bus. Friend in my Modern History class has family nearby and didn’t mind me tagging along for the trip. I’m going to have to leave earlier too, they’re heading back the 6th.’ She turns slightly, the movement causing her skirt to brush against Foggy’s leg. ‘Who’s this?’

‘Matt Murdock,’ Matt says as he offers his hand in her direction. 

She takes it lightly. ‘I’m Diane, call me Di. Foggy’s mentioned you.’ 

He blushes. ‘All good I hope?’

‘Matt! Don’t flirt with my sister!’ Foggy’s faking his outrage but Matt plays along anyway.

‘Not my fault your sister has such a lovely voice.’ 

That gets everyone laughing. ‘That’s a new one.’ 

‘Well, I could say you were beautiful but I’m told that coming from me that’s a bit of an empty compliment.’ Foggy’s the only one to laugh, used to Matt poking fun at his blindness. He smiles to let Di and Anna know it’s okay. ‘I’m sorry. I’m told my blind jokes get old fast.’

‘Wait until he starts on the justice and blindness jokes,’ Foggy snarks. 

It’s then it dawns on Matt that he can still hear two knives cutting, despite the fact that Di is turned towards him and Anna just opened the oven with a burst of warm air. ‘What’s for dinner?’ he asks, subtly nodding towards the knives. He hears Foggy biting his lip to hide his smile when he spots them. Strike one for hiding magic.

‘Oh nothing fancy, just some meat from Dan’s shop and some vegetables. I’m saving the fancy cooking for Christmas dinner.’ Anna’s heart beat picks up and Matt knows she’s noticed the automatically cutting knives combined with the fact that Matt’s facing them. In a fast move, she’s back in front of one and Matt hears Di’s squeak as Anna pulls her over to her knife. 

‘Sounds good,’ Matt says. ‘Foggy, could you show me the bathroom?’

‘Oh yeah sure.’

They’re barely out of the room when Foggy huffs a laugh into his hands. ‘Strike one.’

‘Are they always this bad? If I knew nothing about magic, that would have given it away.’

‘It would have?’ Foggy asks as he leads Matt to the bathroom. 

Matt shrugs. ‘I have to keep track of where people are in the room or they’ll surprise me when they speak or move. I’m pretty good at it. So yeah, knives cutting vegetables when I know no one is near them is suspicious… or would have me thinking I’m going nuts.’

‘Huh. Okay.’

******** 

They’re setting the table with Di as an audience when the front door slams open. ‘I hate him!’ a girl screams as she breezes into the dining room. Foggy steps out of her way.

So do the table and chairs. Luckily Matt is behind Foggy and doesn’t have to dodge but the movement of the table and chairs isn’t exactly subtle, scraping along the floor. Matt raises an eyebrow. 

‘Are you okay?’ he asks.

‘What?’ the girl asks, stopping on the other side of the room.

‘It sounds like you just walked into the table?’ Matt makes sure to look confused and can hear Foggy swallowing laughter. 

‘Oh shit,’ she mutters, so quiet that Matt’s sure no one else heard it. ‘Yes, I’m okay,’ she says a bit louder. ‘Sorry, you are?’

Matt holds out his hand. ‘Matt Murdock. You’re… Bianca?’

Her heartbeat is starting to calm but skips a beat when he says her name. ‘Yes, how’d you know?’

‘Foggy’s talked about his sisters. I guessed from there.’ Matt cocks his head as Anna comes into the room. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Yes, please explain all the yelling,’ Anna says and Matt deliberately jumps. ‘Oh, sorry Matt.’ He waves it off. 

‘I have homework for the break. So much homework from my dic-’ Anna coughs, ‘diabolical Math teacher that I doubt I’ll have time to breathe let alone you know, actually celebrate Christmas.’ She throws herself into one of the chairs. ‘I’m going to have to use ma-’

‘You’re not going to cheat,’ Anna cuts in. ‘Get Candy to help. Now fix the table and get ready for dinner. Foggy text Candy and find out if Heather’s coming, Di, finish setting the table. Matt, come be my taste tester?’

Matt smiles. ‘Sure.’ He taps Foggy’s ankles with his cane twice and takes the resulting light elbow to the ribs with grace. 

He knows Foggy got the message. Two more strikes. 

********

Foggy’s Dad Edward - don’t you dare call me Mr Nelson son - comes home just as dinner’s being served out. They’re apparently not waiting for Foggy’s other sister Candace, who’s eating at her girlfriend’s place, so as soon as Edward changes from his filthy, dust covered clothes, they eat. 

Matt fades into the background of the conversation, content to let their words flow around him and settle into the familiarity Foggy’s family has with each other. He’s… he missed this. 

‘Matt,’ Anna calls, breaking him out of his thoughts. ‘How is everything?’

‘Lovely,’ he says with a smile. ‘I’ve not had the like in years.’ And he’s not lying. The mass produced food of college and large hurried meals of the orphanage do not compare to this.

He can hear her smile in her voice. ‘I’m glad. Foggy tells me you’re a good cook?’

‘Only compared to him!’ Matt laughs and everyone joins in a moment later. 

‘I’m making an outraged face here Matt and everyone is laughing at me. Thanks a lot buddy.’

‘I live to help you pal.’ That causes another laugh and the conversation moves on to Bianca’s teachers. 

********

After dinner everyone migrates to the living room and Matt finds himself sharing a sofa - and blanket - with Foggy while his parents take the armchairs and his sisters sit on the floor. Bianca sits against Foggy’s legs and pokes at him, causing him to start to fiddle with her hair in revenge. 

‘Foggy, how have your classes been going?’ Edward asks in the ad break of whatever show they’re watching - Foggy’s narrating but Matt has no real interest in it so he’s lost track of what’s going on.

His friend shrugs, the movement disturbing the blanket. ‘Alright. Harder than last year but I’m coping. It’s been… okay.’

‘That’s good.’ Matt can hear Foggy’s parents shift in their seats. ‘Ah, how’s your other study going?’ It takes him a moment for Matt to realise what Edward means and then he feels like sighing. How the hell is he supposed to pretend not to notice magic when they’re this unsubtle about it? He hopes they pick up their game soon.

Foggy’s heartbeat jumps for a moment. ‘Fine? Matt, did you want a drink?’

‘I’m fine. What other study is this?’ 

‘Oh you jerk,’ Foggy mutters under his breath, knowing Matt is close enough to hear. His family start to panic, their breathing and heartbeats speeding up. ‘Ah… it’s a surprise.’

Matt raises an eyebrow. ‘You could’ve just said it was none of my business.’ 

‘It’s none of your business,’ Foggy repeats in a monotone. ‘So what do you think of this show?’

‘Best I’ve seen recently.’ There’s a moment of consideration, then Foggy hits Matt with a pillow as he starts to laugh.

********

Later that night, as they’re getting ready for bed, Matt turns to Foggy. ‘Is everyone in the family as poor a liar as you are?’

Foggy groans. ‘Hey, I was put on the spot!’

‘And? Lying is improvising.’ Matt pulls down the sheet of his bed and slip under the covers. It’s cotton but he’s used to it and knows how to handle it. He runs his hands along the sheets and pushes subtly at his magic. Slowly the sheets begin to feel like silk, the spell spreading along them from where Matt is touching them. It doesn’t cause a complete transformation but it’ll stop Matt’s skin from being irritated all night and that’s all he needs. 

With a sigh Foggy crawls into his own bed. ‘Yeah okay. We’re not good at lying really. It’s kinda a family wide flaw.’

Matt smiles. ‘I don’t think it’s a flaw.’ 

‘Of course you don’t; you’re like the most honest person I know and you own your honesty man.’

That strikes at Matt, nearly a physical blow but he can’t argue with Foggy without revealing how dishonest he’s been. So he just hums in reply and Foggy lets the matter drop as they both fall asleep.

********

Foggy is still asleep when Matt wakes around seven - he’s not one to wake early when he doesn’t have to - so Matt drags himself out of bed and stumbles downstairs in search of coffee. There’s someone else in the kitchen when Matt gets there, cooking toast by the smell of it. He pauses a moment to concentrate and smells the apple of her shampoo before he’s able to place the person as Di. God, he really needs coffee. 

But it’s clear he’s not the only one not focusing this morning. ‘Oh hey Foggy. Pass the thyme would you? I’m working on a spe-’ Di must finally look up, ‘meal. A meal. That needs thyme.’

‘All meals need time,’ Matt jokes and Di’s laugh is extremely forced. ‘Sorry, I’m not exactly the best for finding things in a strange kitchen or I’d pass it.’ 

‘That’s fine. I’ll grab it myself. What were you after?’

‘Coffee,’ Matt says as his fingers brush the coffee machine, exactly where Foggy said it was last night. ‘Coffee.’

Di laughs, this time more natural. ‘Want creamer?’

Matt can’t help the disgusted face he makes. ‘No creamer.’ He feels along the cupboards, trying to recall which one Foggy said had the cups. Di must notice his dilemma because she reaches over him and hands him a cup. Matt barely touches it before she’s gasping and pulling it out of his grip. He knows why; the brief touch was enough for Matt to feel the magic in the cup.

‘Sorry, that one’s still dirty. Dad’s shit at washing dishes. Here, take this one.’ She hands him another cup, free of any magic. He pours his coffee and takes a long sip. 

What does this make? Five strikes? No that was last night. This makes seven strikes. Foggy was right, it is kind of amusing watching his family hide magic, though mostly in how unsubtle they are at hiding it.

‘What’s so funny?’ Di asks and Matt shakes his head. 

‘Nothing. Just wondering if we’ll get Foggy out of bed before midday.’

That causes her to laugh and Matt smiles.

********

It turns out that Foggy will wake up before midday if Bianca is cooking bacon and he falls into the kitchen not two minutes after the newly awake Bianca throws the meat into the fry pan, followed closely by Anna. 

‘You can see where he gets it from,’ Edward jokes to Matt who’d been forced to take a seat at the table and not move. Foggy’s father had taken the seat beside him and begun to narrate his daughter’s attempts at cooking. It seems that they, like Foggy, have one dish they can do well while failing at all others. It seems Bianca’s dish is a bacon omelette that’s making Matt’s mouth water while acting as a Nelson summoner. 

‘Dad I will protest that just as soon as I have had enough coffee to think.’ 

‘Get me one,’ Anna says as she takes the seat beside Edward and collapses onto the table. ‘We have a lot to do today so no disappearing after breakfast.’ 

Di’s fished out a pen - Matt can smell its ink - and she’s fiddling with the coffee cup Foggy just poured coffee into. Magic fills the room and the cup jerks into the air causing everyone’s heartbeat to race. He cocks his head as the cup floats haphazardly across the room and lands on the table in front of Anna with a thud that spills half the coffee over the table.

‘Di! You don’t throw full cups!’ Anna cries and Matt, who is already struggling to keep the disbelief and shock off his face has to duck his head to hide his expression and laughter. By the sound of it, Foggy is doing the same thing behind him. ‘Actually, come with me.’ She grabs her daughter and drags her out of the room as Foggy takes Anna’s seat. 

Matt has to bite his lip as he tries not to eavesdrop on Anna and Di’s argument - ' _ Just because he can’t see you floating cups doesn’t mean you can do!’ ‘But I need practice!’ ‘I don’t care!’ _  - and focus on the conversation in front of him. 

‘Matt?’ Foggy calls and it dawns on Matt this isn’t the first time he’s been called. 

‘Sorry, not awake. What was that?’

‘We’re in charge of untangling the Christmas lights and decorating the living room.’

With a frown Matt says ‘The living room isn’t already decorated?’

The room falls silent. ‘Ah oops, forgot to narrate that,’ Foggy finally says. ‘We usually wait until everyone is home to decorate.’ He shrugs, ‘It’s tradition. Oh yeah, I just shrugged.’ 

Matt smiles. ‘Sounds like a good tradition.’ 

‘It is. And everyone helps decorate this afternoon.’

But hang on… ‘I thought that was our job for today? Untangling the lights and decorating.’

Foggy laughs. ‘Oh trust me, it’ll take until then to get the lights right.’

********

‘You weren’t kidding,’ Matt says after an hour of trying to wrangle what feels like a foot long living snake of Christmas lights which will not do what he wants. ‘What did you _do_  to these?’

Foggy laughs. ‘A part of it is normal Christmas lights tangling but we also charm the lights Christmas Eve and well, then we magic them away and it results in… this.’ 

‘Joy,’ Matt deadpans. ‘Can’t you use magic to untangle them?’ Foggy’s heartbeat picks up and there’s a long pointed silence. ‘Oh you do usually, don’t you?’ Matt puts as much annoyance into his voice as he can.

‘Okay yes. But well. This is fun and keeps us out of the way of Mom’s cleaning spree.’ Matt nods at that, able to hear the sounds of Bianca cleaning under Anna’s direction. He’s just grateful he doesn’t have to deal with the scent of their cleaning products up close.

With a final tug, the knot Matt has been working on finally comes undone. ‘Sure. _Fun_  is the best way to describe this.’ 

It’s then the front door opens and slams shut, causing Foggy - and the lights he’s holding - to jump. A woman storms into the living room and stops. ‘Oh. Hello.’

‘Candy, could you make anymore noise?’ Foggy asks. ‘I think the neighbours didn’t hear you. Matt be grateful you don’t have sisters.’

Matt smiles. ‘If you say so.’

‘Oh, you’re Matt! I’m Candy - Candace. Just don’t call me that.’ There’s a pause and Matt knows she’s holding out a hand for him to shake but doesn’t move.

‘Matt, Candy has her hand out to shake,’ Foggy narrates and Matt makes a production of jumping. 

He offers his hand. ‘Sorry, didn’t see it there,’ he says causing Foggy to groan.

‘Just for that, you have this knot. It’s a beauty.’

‘Why aren’t you guys using ma-’ Matt hears the surprised huff of breath Candy realises as Foggy elbows her and frowns. Is that cheating? ‘-more people. To do this. It looks like a disaster. Which needs more people.’

Anna clears her throat from the doorway. ‘Why don’t you take a seat and help them?’ Candy must nod because Matt hears her shuffle lights around to take a seat on the floor and then feels the tug on the lights as she takes a section. ‘Is Heather eating here on Christmas?’

Candy nods. ‘Yeah, we’re having dinner at hers Christmas Eve and spending the day here.’

‘Is George here for Christmas too?’ Foggy cuts in, then adds ‘George is Bianca’s boyfriend Matt. We’ve known him forever and he’s a standing invite for holidays.’

‘Your sister hasn’t said.’ Annoyance is in Anna’s voice.

Matt starts to do the math. While he’s never been able to keep an exact hold or count of Foggy’s extended family, he knows there’s at least four uncles and an aunt all with varying amount of kids. If even a third of them come... ‘Your house is going to be crowded already, isn’t it? Just with the nine of us…How will everyone fit?’

There’s an awkward silence. ‘We’ll fit,’ Anna says shortly and walks out. Right, magic. Matt glances at his friend in confusion.

‘I’ll explain later,’ Foggy whispers and pulls at the lights. ‘Urgh, why do these lights hate us?’

‘Because you mistreat them?’ Matt jokes and feels Candy pull at the lights too. 

Actually, she’s pulling them in a particular way, almost like she’s trying to move them into a pattern… or a shape. A rune. ‘Candy-’ Foggy says but he’s too late. The lights start to move, wriggling around. ‘Candy, you’re being an idiot! Stop it, this isn’t funny.’ Matt can feel the magic in the air. She’s using it to untangle the lights  _ he’s still holding _ .

‘What’s happening?’

Matt can sense Foggy freezing, knowing he’s unwilling to pretend to lie to him but also knowing if Foggy was really hiding magic he would have to lie.

Luckily Candy steps in. ‘I’m shaking up the lights. I find it always helps untangle them. Let go for a second Matt.’ He does with a raised eyebrow and feels the lights jerk out of his lap. ‘There, try now.’

Reaching out, Matt grabs the section he’d been working on. It’s still tangled but nothing like what it was before; a light knot instead of a tangled disaster. ‘That’s an effective method,’ he says mildly. ‘More effective than I would have thought it would be.’ Matt is vaguely pleased to note the mild signs of panic Candy is exhibiting. Good. He’s blind not stupid.

‘More effective than usual,’ Foggy says and there’s an angry note in his voice. Matt takes note and backs off. Foggy might be his friend but he is still an older brother.

‘So where are we going to put these?’ Matt asks and the tension in the room dissipates. 

********

After a quick lunch it’s time to decorate the living room and trim the tree Edward and Di are trying to lug through the door. Matt can feel the magic covering it from the other side of the room and he’s not surprised to hear the top of it scrape the roof.

‘Why did you pick this one?’ Foggy groans as he helps his sister and father get the tree around the furniture. ‘Matt Dad picked a tree that’s so big it’s literally touching the roof.’

‘I know. I can hear it scraping the roof from here.’ There’s a silence as everyone listens and then a general hum of surprised agreement. ‘Yeah, it’s not exactly subtle.’ 

With an exaggerated groan they get the tree into position. ‘I wouldn’t have noticed that without you buddy,’ Foggy says. ‘But hey, tree’s in position. Want a feel?’

Matt reaches out a hand and lets Foggy guide him to the tree. Definitely pine and now he’s touching it the magic is even more obvious though Matt has no ability at identifying what spells are on it. He runs his hand around it and reinforces the image of it that his senses have formed. ‘What colour is it?’

There’s a long silence. ‘Green,’ Edward lies. Huh. Is the colour one of the spells?

‘Here you go Buddy,’ Foggy says, breaking the resulting silence by passing Matt a decoration. It too has magic clinging to it and Matt quickly identifies it as a bauble. ‘You can hang the lucky first decoration.’

‘But it’s your turn!’ Bianca cries.

‘And Matt can have it.’ Foggy doesn’t give Matt the chance to protest but steps away so quickly and quietly that Matt can’t follow him without raising awkward questions. So he turns to the tree and carefully feels out a place to hang the small bauble. 

The second he does he feels the spell shift from it to him and realises the bauble is  _ literally _  a lucky one as he senses the strong good fortune spell on it. He glares in Foggy’s direction but doesn’t fight the spell. ‘What colour is this?’

‘Red.’ Foggy passes another. ‘This one is blue and the rest are either blue or green.’

Matt puts the blue bauble above the red one. ‘Only one red bauble?’

‘It’s the lucky one.’ 

‘Huh. I do hope you’re not expecting me to colour coordinate.’ Foggy laughs and starts putting up decorations too, passing Matt ones to hang as he does. 

Behind them Matt can hear Edward and Di fiddling with the rustling tinsel before he hears it lift into the air. Matt cocks his head as the tinsel starts to wrap itself around things in the room; one piece settling on the mantelpiece and others along the windows and doorways. But then a piece heads for the tree - and Matt.

He manages to act natural until it brushes his hand and gives him a reason to jump. ‘Shit!’

‘Oh sorry!’ Di calls out and Matt wants to groan because she’s still behind him, how the hell is he supposed to pretend he didn’t notic-

Actually, he doesn’t have to pretend anything. ‘Where’d that come from?’ Matt makes a show of reaching with his cane and can smell the sweat as Foggy’s family starts to panic. 

But it seems Candy is a better liar than the rest of her family. ‘Sorry, I’ve bad aim. I meant to hit Foggy.’

‘With tinsel?’

‘Well he’s certainly about as pretty as the tree.’ 

‘Hey!’ Foggy yells and throws a pillow, ‘Matt I just threw a pillow at Candy and I’m leaving right now I’ll be back.’ He sprints from the room with a rush of movement; Candy brushing Matt as she takes off after him, yelling.

Matt can’t help laughing, especially as Anna sighs, ‘They’re always like this. You wouldn’t think they’re the oldest.’ She moves up to pass Matt another decoration which causes him to pause because it’s not a bauble. He runs his hands over it and smiles when he feels the lamb next to the cradle.

Then he feels the bottom of the decoration and traces the rune there. He has a second to realise what he’s done before he feels his magic rising. Panic races through him and he tries to push it down, causing a crawling sensation under his skin as his magic tries to defy his will and cast the spell he summoned it for.

Luckily it’s this moment Foggy bursts back into the room and throws himself at Matt; grabbing his shoulders as he tries to hide behind his friend. Matt takes his chance and grabs Foggy’s hand, shoving the decoration into it as he releases the spell. He feels Foggy jerk in surprise at the sudden magic but they’re so close that no one should be able to tell that it’s not Foggy’s magic - just that a spell was cast. 

Matt’s hand is still on the decoration so he feels it when the lamb starts to move. ‘Oh,’ he breathes, shock and surprise in his voice. But it’s then he realises that Foggy still had momentum from his charge across the room and his jerk of surprise threw his balance off - and Matt’s. They’re currently falling.

There’s time, if Matt was willing to reveal his abilities, to prevent the fall. But instead he grabs Foggy’s shoulder with his other hand and twists slightly so they fall beside the tree instead of into it. Foggy lands on top of Matt and knocks the wind out of him while Matt hears the clink that is his glasses falling off. 

‘Matt! Foggy!’ Anna cries, Edward’s voice a beat behind hers. ‘Are you okay?’ 

Foggy is scrambling off Matt, just as worried. ‘Buddy, are you okay?’

Matt finally gets enough breath into his lungs to laugh and nearly rolls over with the force of it. He can hear Foggy groaning and instinctively dodges his light slap, only realising a second later he did so. Hopefully Foggy passes it off as luck.

‘You jerk,’ Foggy says but Matt senses him sitting back on his heels and hears the soft sigh of relief. ‘You had me worried.’

‘It was your fault.’ Matt pats around the floor. ‘Did I break -’

‘Oh no, it’s beside Foggy,’ Di cuts in. 

‘I don’t think you could break any of our decorations if you tried,’ Bianca adds and the room audibly freezes. 

Matt sits up. ‘Plastic for you guys?’

Foggy’s family isn’t subtle, their sigh of relief is actually  _ audible _ . ‘Wood actually. My father made a lot of them,’ Edward says. ‘And we bought a few.’

Oh. Family heirlooms. Matt looks down. ‘That’s nice.’ 

Edward seems to realise he’s said something to upset Matt. ‘Yes. Foggy, why don’t you and Matt go make hot chocolate for everyone while we finish up here?’

Foggy must nod before he grabs Matt’s arm and leads him out.

********

‘Are you okay? Really?’ Foggy asks once they have the milk heating up. ‘Dad wasn-’

‘I know. I get it. I’m not upset.’ Matt shrugs. ‘We didn’t actually have much in the way of decorations for Christmas and I… well a lot of the unimportant things got lost over the years. I guess whoever packed up the house only passed on the important things to the nuns to store for me.’ 

Foggy doesn’t say anything but does give Matt a soft pat on the back. ‘Okay. Okay.’

Matt offers a small smile then frowns. ‘What was with the lucky bauble?’

He can practically hear Foggy’s eye roll. ‘Tradition. There’s a good luck spell on it from Grandpa Nelson. It moves onto whoever hangs it. He gave one to each of his kids for his last Christmas, as if he knew it was his last… Grandpa always knew when things were coming.’

‘He had the Sight?’ Matt might not know a lot about formal magic but even he’s heard of this.

Foggy shrugs. ‘I just shrugged. Maybe? It’s not like the Sight is reliable really and it’s rarely ever testable. In fact Grandpa’s ‘Sight’ seemed to only ever fail when we were trying to test it. Uncle John has something similar but again it’s not testable and definitely not teachable. The only one who puts any stock in it is his wife, even he thinks he’s a bit weird most of the time, if only a weirdo who makes good guesses. And Grandpa could be a bit odd so his ‘predictions’ were just as bad.’

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah,’ Foggy laughs as he pours the milk into the first cup. ‘He once told me I’d save and follow the Devil; that I’ll love him and protect him from those that would harm him and be loved and protected in turn.’ Matt half gasps, half laughs. It’s a weird prediction… unless? No, it can’t mean him. ‘Yeah, I know. That was like, a week before he died and he… well that was probably the most sense he made for that whole year. But Grandma - Nelson - is still around and she’s amazing at herbology. You’re going to love her.’ 

Matt smiles. ‘I’m sure I will.’

******** 

Candy comes in to help carry in the cups and Matt can smell the smoke of Edward’s attempts to light the fire. He settles into the sofa again, Foggy beside him and Candy beside Foggy and listens to yet another attempt. 

Edward curses out the fireplace and Matt jerks as he hears the Latin spell buried in his multilingual curses. The fire roars to life and Matt finds himself smiling at Edward’s creativity. ‘Marshmallows?’ Edwards asks and there’s a chorus of yes’s, including Matt’s. There’s the clang of metal as Anna passes over metal skewers then Matt smells the scent of slowly roasting marshmallows. 

Matt, as the guest, ends up eating the first one done and pauses after his first bite. ‘This is amazing.’ It’s more than amazing, it’s  _ perfect _  without the cloying taste of sugar he was expecting. There’s a vague buzz in the back of his head, like he’s about to cast a spell but he’s not using magic so Matt ignores it.

‘It’s just a marshmallow,’ Anna lies and Matt pauses. Magic? Huh. 

‘Still amazing.’ He shuffles in his seat, suddenly much more comfortable and finds his head sliding onto Foggy’s shoulder as the family argues over what to do. He has another marshmallow, then another and another until he loses count of how many he’s had.

At some point Matt loses track of the room and drifts off.

********

‘Come on Matt, bedtime buddy.’ Matt tiredly slaps at the hand disturbing him and snuggles into the soft thing at his back.

‘I think you put too much power behind your spell,’ Edward mutters. ‘What did you even cast on him?’

‘Nothing! I mean, nothing beyond the usual spell we’ve on the firep- oh dear.’

Someone pokes at Matt and he groans. ‘Come on, stand up.’ The person helps Matt to his feet and gets him moving. 

Each step clears his head and it begins to dawn that someone cast a spell on him. He should feel angry but right now he’s still too sleepy and comfortable to care. 

‘Do you need a hand Foggy?’

‘Nah, I got this. It’s not the first time.’ 

Distantly, Matt is outraged. ‘’elped you ‘ore than you’re ‘elped me,’ he gets out.

‘Hey, you’re awake!’ Foggy pushes him up a bit. ‘Now, stairs.’

Matt groans but starts to move his legs so he can get up the steps. ‘Thirteen.’

‘Yeah Buddy, thirteen.’ 

********

Matt blinks awake and is vaguely confused to find himself in a bed. Last night fades into a bit of a blur after the marshmallows but he has faint memories of being poked and prodded into moving by… Foggy?

‘Hey, are you awake?’ Matt sits up as Foggy enters the room. ‘You okay?’ he asks as he sits at the end of Matt’s bed. 

‘Yeah, I’m okay. What happened?’

Foggy sighs. ‘Well it seems that you need way more sleep than you get and you kinda overdosed on magical marshmallows.’

‘What?’

‘There’s a rune-’ Foggy takes Matt’s hand and traces a tilted square in his palm, ‘that means a few things including home and comfort but also rest and relief. It’s used for comfort and home spells in rune magic but also sleeping spells, depending on how you apply it. Mom drew it into our fireplace years ago as a comfort spell that usually passes onto anything cooked in the fireplace. But last night, somehow, you managed to turn it into a sleeping spell you cast on yourself.’

Matt blinks. _'How?_ _ ’ _

Foggy shrugs. ‘No idea pal. Your style of magic is completely foreign to me but I’m guessing the spell on the marshmallows just affected you differently. It happens sometimes.’

‘So your family knows.’

‘Ah…’

Confused, Matt tilts his head. ‘Your family _still_  doesn’t know?’

‘Well...no. It’s not like they asked!’

Matt blinks, aware that he doesn’t have his glasses on and Foggy can see the confusion on his face. ‘But what do they think happened? If it was my magic that cast the spell?’

‘Mom thinks you reacted badly to the comfort spell. Which also happens!’ With a sigh Foggy flops onto Matt’s bed, so he’s lying beside Matt. ‘But not as often as another witch-’

‘Not a witch,’ Matt growls, angry at the thought Foggy can’t keep that straight even after all this time.

‘-another magical person’s,’ Foggy continues, undeterred, ‘magic sending your spell into disarray.’ He pauses and Matt can sense him fiddling with the blanket. ‘But they did notice your spell yesterday.’

It takes Matt a moment to remember. ‘The lamb?’ The memory of the lamb moving under his fingers makes Matt smile. ‘What spell was it?’

Foggy shrugs. ‘One of Grandpa’s. Mom yelled at me for activating the rune on it but she made it clear she wasn’t sure how I did it considering I was busy with the whole knocking you down thing.’ Matt huffs a laugh at Foggy’s phrasing and Foggy lightly elbows him. Only the angle he’s at is such that he elbows Matt’s thigh which causes Matt to laugh again and slap at Foggy’s hand. 

‘They’re suspicious?’ Matt asks.

‘They’re suspicious,’ Foggy sums up. ‘I don’t think we’ll make another two days of this.’

No, they probably won’t. ‘How about an addendum to the agreement?’

‘I’m listening.’

Matt lies down so he and Foggy are lying side by side and rolls, so they’re face to face. After a moment, Foggy rolls too. ‘We said the 24th?’ They’re close enough Matt can feel Foggy’s head moving on the bed and he smiles. ‘Then we keep it the 24th, but breakfast not lunch. A minor adjustment.’

‘I’m smiling right now Buddy, so wide. That’s _perfect_ . We’ll get up early tomorrow, cook breakfast with magic and you can have a magical Christmas Eve too. It’ll be brilliant.’ 

‘Then we are agreed.’ Matt reaches out a joking hand for Foggy to shake.

‘We are agreed.’  Foggy ignores it and pulls Matt into a hug. Matt stiffens for a moment, then relaxes into it. 

******** 

They stumble downstairs a half hour later and before Matt can manage a hello, Anna is by his side. 

‘Oh, you’re alright!’ She pushes him into a chair. ‘I was so worried,’ she says as she runs a hand through his hair, before placing it to his cheek.

Matt finds himself both wanting to soak up the attention she’s giving him and shy away from it. He settles for remaining still and neither rejecting nor expliciting accepting it. But he can’t help leaning onto the hand on his cheek with a soft sigh. ‘I think I was just tired,’ he offers with a soft smile. ‘I needed the sleep.’

Her heartbeat picks up but Matt’s not sure why. ‘I’m glad you’re okay now.’ 

Foggy places a cup in front of Matt causing Anna to step aside. ‘Coffee at two o’clock Buddy. Do you want toast? Candy’s making some.’

‘Sure,’ he says as he reaches out until his knuckles brush the handle of the cup and he can get a firm grip on it. ‘Does she need help?’

‘If you move from that chair I think Mom will find the duct tape to well, duct tape you to it.’ Foggy drops into the seat beside Matt. ‘But we’re not needed. Candy has a production line going and at last look she’s already made a leaning tower of toast.’ AKA, Candy’s using magic to cook breakfast and she’s gone overboard. Got it.

Matt smiles. ‘Well then. Sounds like having toast will be doing Candy a favour.’ 

‘A massive favour,’ Di says as she takes the seat across from Matt. Focused as he was on Foggy, her appearance _is_  a surprise and he jumps. 

‘Di, announce yourself!’ Foggy snaps, actual anger in his voice. Even Matt feels like shrinking back. 

‘It’s okay,’ he says with a small smile. ‘It’s fine. Di, how are you?’

She and Foggy are staring at another and they must be making faces at another because there’s the nearly inaudible shift of movements. Finally Di speaks, ‘I’m fine. Mom’s put me in charge of cleaning up the backyard with Bianca and George so I’m basically making sure they don’t sneak off to make out.’

‘Good luck,’ Foggy says and Matt raises an eyebrow at his friend. ‘What? I might be her older brother but I trust Bi; she’s not an idiot and they’re her choices. Plus she’s fully capable of making George suffer if he pushes her and then I can get involved.’

Di takes a deep breath at Foggy’s words so Matt decides not to comment. The front door opens quietly and Matt tracks an unfamiliar young man down the hall. ‘Something you’ve already planned?’

‘In great detail,’ Foggy sounds delighted. ‘Right George?’ The young man pauses in the doorway of the dining room. 

‘Umm, yes?’

‘Good man. George, Matt. Matt, Bianca’s boyfriend just walked in without knocking or an invitation. What laws has he broken?’

Matt shakes his head. ‘None, if there’s a prior standing invitation that he had no reason to believe had been revoked.’

Foggy clutches at his chest and rocks back in his chair. ‘Betrayed! Backstabbed! By my friend! How dare you act as counsel for the defence?’

‘Isn’t you who says that everyone deserves a good defence?’

‘You two are such _nerds_ ,’ Di cuts in, causing both Matt and Foggy to break into laughter. Candy brings in a plate of toast as they stop. 

‘Oooh, magical toast!’ George says and Matt has to bite his lip to prevent himself laughing at the frantic - and highly audible - waving from Di, Candy and Bianca, who’s hovering in the doorway. Foggy just facepalms, though Matt can hear the smothered laughter. 

‘...because it’s the best toast ever.’ 

Matt reaches out and lets Foggy correct his aim to grab a piece. ‘Well, with that praise I’d better have some.’ 

Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and Matt realises he’s lost track of what strike they’re up to. How the hell have they ever managed to hide magic from anyone?

********

‘Ta-da,’ Matt says as he finishes wrapping his latest present. The room is silent for a long second before Foggy swallows a laugh and Candy giggles. George and Bianca are also breathing like they’re trying to hide laughter and he can sense Anna biting her lip. Matt frowns, ‘What?’

Everyone swallows another laugh. Then Di sighs, ‘Matt, did you flip the paper at any point?’

‘Oh, not again!’ Matt runs his hands over the present but he can’t feel any difference from the presents he wrapped before - at least not the ones he knows he wrapped the right way around.

‘Don’t worry Matt,’ Edward laughs. ‘If anyone complains we’ll tell them off.’ He takes the present from Matt. ‘Who was this for?’

Matt thinks it over. ‘Your… great-niece Alice? The one who is Foggy’s second cousin?’ This after lunch ‘family’ activity of wrapping presents for the extended family has been a lesson both in the specific members of Foggy’s family and specific family relations. Matt still isn’t sure he has the relations right; he loses track of what the difference between a second cousin and cousin once removed is. Foggy’s family is far too big.

And he loves it. As George passes him another present for yet another young cousin, Matt finds himself wishing that he was actually a part of a family like this - this family really - instead of just intruding upon them for the holiday. 

The doorbell rings and everyone pauses. ‘Who could that be?’ Anna does a quick count under her breath. ‘The whole family’s here unless… is Heather coming?’

Candy shakes her head. ‘Not until Christmas.’ 

Foggy turns to Matt and whispers, ‘No one unrelated to us ever visits.’

‘That’s because you’re related to half of New York,’ Matt whispers back and Foggy lightly slaps his shoulder as he laughs.

Anna stands, still counting the people in the room. ‘Is it too early for carolers?’ 

‘Mom it’s 3pm!’ Di calls out as Anna answers the door. Matt cocks his head in surprise as he hears Anna’s breathing change.

‘You,’ she says softly and  _ angrily _ . Shocked, Matt turns his head towards the door as the woman at it pushes past Anna. ‘I told you you’re not welcome in my home!’

‘And I’ve told you I have every right - every legal right - to be here,’ the woman snaps. Beside Matt, Foggy goes tense. As does everyone else in the room. Hopelessly confused, Matt turns his head to his friend. 

But Foggy doesn’t explain; just stands up slowly. ‘Listen to Mom please,’ he says mildly but with a note of anger in his voice to the woman who’s just entered the room. She flinches when he says ‘Mom’; a movement so small Matt’s sure no one else noticed it. ‘I don’t want to speak to you.’

‘You’ve never known what you want Franklin-,’ Matt bristles at the use of the name he knows Foggy dislikes, ‘-and I want to speak to you. Why did I have to hear about you being in law school from Reggie York?’ The mention of the cranky old professor who once tried to accuse Foggy of cheating causes Matt to grimace. 

Foggy shifts, his heart pounding with his anger. ‘Wait, you’ve only just heard? I’ve been in law school for over a  _ year _ .’ Matt stands too and he notes he’s the last one to do so. Everyone else in the room rose when this woman walked in.

She sniffs. ‘Well you didn’t bother to inform me-’

‘When could I? It’s not like you’ve seen me since high school,’ Foggy snaps. ‘Why are you here?’ he says, his voice softer but no calmer. 

‘I need to speak to you. Privately.’ She glances in Edward’s direction and Matt hears his heart skip a beat while his breathing picks up. Lus- no, anger. Edward hates this woman… and so do most of the people in this room, Matt realises. 

Who the hell is she? ‘Speak here or leave.’ 

‘I want to speak to you _privately_ . This is a matter that does not concern these… people.’ Matt stiffens in anger. ‘Especially not that one. Who’s he?’ It dawns on Matt she’s pointing at  _ him _ .

‘My best friend,’ Foggy says softly. ‘Something you’d know if you’d seen me at all in the last year.’ He steps forward, so he’s between Matt and the woman. ‘Leave. I’m not interested in listening to you.’

‘Why not? I’m going to help you-’

Foggy raises a hand and cuts her off. ‘You keep insulting my family and you want me to listen to you? Really?’

‘If you choose them over me, you’ll never get anywhere.’

Finally, Foggy loses his temper. Matt’s vaguely impressed he held onto it this long. ‘Oh  _ shut up _ -’

‘You don’t speak to me like that. Be silent,’ the woman snaps and Matt feels the magic in the air. Before everyone can react, she draws a symbol in the air and Foggy stumbles back a step into Matt. He catches his friend and supports him, swapping their positions so Foggy is now behind Matt.

‘What are you doing?’ Edward roars. Frantically he gestures at Matt, something that Anna joins in with. It takes Matt a moment to realise they still don’t know about his magic and think this woman just performed some in front of him.

‘Please, like he’d notice.’ Anger floods Matt and he turns away from Foggy to face her. Behind him, Foggy tries to speak but can only manage huffed breaths and horrific coughing noises.

‘Who are you?’ Matt knows his voice is low and full of veiled threat but he doesn’t care. He can hear how it’s affecting the heartbeats of Foggy’s family but that fades into the background of the way it’s making this woman’s heart jump.

She sniffs, hiding the fear Matt can sense in exaggerated bluster. ‘I’m Rosalind Sharpe.’ Matt recognises the name as that of a well known New York lawyer but doesn’t care. Not when her next words freeze his blood. ‘I’m Franklin’s mother.’

Foggy takes a deep breath and Matt can hear the upset hitch in it. If he could talk, Matt knows his friend well enough to know he’d be denying her claim.

So Matt’ll do it for him. ‘That clears it up Ms Sharpe, though I’m quite sure being a mother means more than being an egg donor.’ The whole room gasps but Matt can hear the smothered laughter of Foggy’s sisters and with his focus on Foggy, hear the twitch of his lips that means he’s smiling. 

‘Why you-’ Sharpe sputters. ‘How dare you?’

‘How dare  _ you _ ?’ Edward snaps, breaking into their conversation. ‘You said you wanted to speak with Foggy-’, he ignores her muttered ‘Franklin’, ‘and since you’ve made that impossible, you are going to leave.’

She huffs. ‘I have every right-’

‘You have no right,’ Anna says softly but with pure venom in her voice. ‘Foggy is my son, more than he’ll ever be yours, and he’s made it clear he doesn’t want to speak to you. Leave. Now.’

With a flap of her coat, she turns to leave. It’s then Matt realises she’s not going to remove the curse from Foggy - that he’ll have to wait for it to lift - and he loses hold of the Devil in him. 

‘Ms Sharpe?’ he calls and she pauses in the doorway.

‘What?’

‘Have you ever heard that if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all?’

He can practically hear the confusion in the whole room but Matt doesn’t care, focusing on Sharpe’s sigh. ‘I have. I find it impractical advice,’ she says snidely. 

‘Listen to it,’ Matt says and summons his magic to layer his voice. ‘And don’t speak again until you actually understand it.’ She gasps as his spell settles on her and coughs three times. 

Then she tries to speak, the huffs of silent air like music to Matt’s ear. Her heartbeat picks up as she realises he wasn’t bluffing and he has the magic to make his threat reality. The whole room is silent as Sharpe tries to speak for a full minute, before she turns on her heel and flees the house.

Matt’s anger begins to fade as she slams the door and he turns back to his friend, offering his hand. ‘Foggy?’ Foggy hums and takes his hand with a squeeze. ‘I’m sorry… I think I lost my temper.’

‘You don’t say,’ Edward says with an even tone but there’s an angry note to it that has Matt bowing his head, fear and shame filling him. ‘That was… quite a show.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Matt repeats and he can’t keep the note of instinctive panic at revealing his magic out of his voice. He must look awful because Foggy steps closer, so they’re not quite hugging but definitely not just standing side by side. His movement, if Matt’s calculated correctly, also blocks Edward’s line of sight so he can’t see Matt - and if Matt could see, he wouldn’t be able to see Edward. It’s a nice, if useless gesture. Matt knows he’s there regardless.

But it seems, it wasn’t a gesture for Matt. ‘Oh God no. Matt-,’ Edward says.

Anna interrupts him. ‘Matt, it’s okay. Sit down.’ Foggy guides Matt to the sofa and pulls him closer, so Matt’s leaning on his side. ‘It’s okay really. We’re not angry at you for cursing Rosalind.’

‘She deserves it!’ Candy snaps. ‘Someone should’ve done it sooner. I glad you did it and so strongly! It’s not going to wear off for weeks.’ 

Matt shrinks into Foggy’s side at the praise, unused to so attention paid to him - or his magic.

Unfortunately for him, Anna is an observant woman. ‘Matt, are you okay?’ He tries a smile but even he knows it’s more of a grimace than anything. ‘Is… is this why you and Foggy lied? Why you kept your magic a secret?’

‘Wait,’ Bianca says. ‘Foggy knew?’

Di sighs. ‘You’re really oblivious aren’t you? Did you not see the look on Foggy’s face? He wasn’t surprised when Matt used magic. He knew.’

Matt’s close enough to Foggy that he can feel him nod. ‘I-’ he coughs, ‘-ew.’

A sigh of relief spreads through the room. ‘Short lived spell.’ Edward says. 

‘Mine isn’t,’ Matt mutters into Foggy’s shoulder. 

It’s the wrong move. Everyone’s focus snaps back to him. ‘Matt? Foggy?’ Anna says, pushing for an answer. 

Matt sighs. ‘It... it was a mistake. Foggy said he’d told you and then it turned out he hadn’t… and ah…’

‘You decided not to correct us,’ Anna’s tone is mild but it has the note of annoyance Dad always had when Matt lied about doing his homework. Matt hasn’t had that tone directed at him in years and it strikes at his core. 

‘No-’ Foggy coughs, ‘-ot -att’s f-au-t.’ He starts to have a coughing fit and Matt pulls himself off his friend and turns, so he’s holding Foggy. 

‘Breathe,’ he says.

‘Not Matt’s fault?’ Anna says when Foggy regains his breath. ‘Matt, you wanted to tell us?’

Matt shrugs, still wanting to cower in fear but knowing he can’t. ‘I was promised a magical Christmas. I’ve… I’ve never had one.’

‘But you’re magical!’ George says, reminding Matt that yes, he’s still in the room. ‘How could you not have had a magical Christmas?’

After so long hiding magic it feels weird talking about it openly but Matt forces the words out. ‘My Dad wasn’t big on using his magic for ah, small things and after he died…’ Matt shrugs again. ‘I had to hi-... I didn’t think the nuns would be too big on an actual magical Christmas.’

The room is silent for a long time. ‘Foggy, why don’t you and Matt go upstairs until dinner? Bianca, Di, it’s your turn to help,’ Edward finally says. 

Grateful for the reprieve Matt grabs Foggy’s arm and all but pulls him out of the room.


	2. Chapter 2

‘-orry,’ Foggy gets out as they collapse on his bed. Matt just shrugs and doesn’t protest as his friend pulls him into a hug. ‘-orr-.’

‘Stop talking until the spell wears off,’ Matt snaps and he feels Foggy’s nod. ‘I’m sorry too… I shouldn’t have done that.’

Foggy shakes his head violently and nearly headbutts Matt. Matt tries to roll away but Foggy’s grip on him tightens and he pulls Matt closer. ‘No,’ he whispers and Matt glares at him for talking.

‘Okay.’ They stay like that for a long time, until Matt hears footsteps coming up the hall. He pulls out of Foggy’s grip, despite his friend’s non-verbal protests and is sitting up when Anna knocks at the door.

‘Can we come in?’ she says gently and Matt senses Foggy’s nod. Edward follows his wife in and they take a seat on Matt’s bed.

For a long moment the room is silent before Anna breathes out. ‘Boys, can we talk about what happened?’

Matt nods and senses Foggy doing the same beside him. ‘I’m -odin’ -att,’ he tries to narrate, causing Matt to glare at him. 

‘Foggy, don’t talk until the spell wears off,’ Edward says. ‘Matt… do you have questions?’

He does but… ‘I think I’ll wait until Foggy wants to explain.’ Matt lowers his head. ‘Foggy has the right to tell me his secrets when he wants to and I hate that… that woman took his choice away from him.’ From behind him, Foggy pats Matt on the back.

‘That’s very kind of you,’ Anna says with a smile in her voice, ‘but there’s not much to say.’

‘Can I tell Matt?’ Edward says and Matt senses Foggy’s nod. ‘Rosalind and I were married once, until just after Foggy was born. She decided a family wasn’t going to help her law career and since we weren’t helping her magic much either, she left.’ Matt’s heart clenches at the matter of fact tone Edward is using and how calm he seems about her actions. ‘The only good thing she did, two years later when I married Anna, was to sign away her parental rights so Anna could adopt Foggy.’

‘Why did she come then?’ Matt can’t keep the anger out of his voice. 

‘Because she realised about ten years too late what she’d signed away,’ Anna says with pride, ‘and she’s been trying to get Foggy back ever since.’ 

Matt smirks. ‘Sounds like she’s a fool if she needed ten years to figure out Foggy is amazing.’ He hears Foggy splutter behind him and Anna laugh as she nods. 

For a moment the room is silent, the comfortable kind of silence where everyone is considering what they just found amusing. Then Anna sighs. ‘Matt… We don’t want to push but anything you’re comfortable telling us…?’

With a sigh, Matt starts to fiddle with the blanket he’s sitting on. ‘I’m not sure there’s much to say?’

‘That was a powerful curse you put on Rosalind,’ Edward says mildly, only his thumping heart giving away the fear - or anger? Matt’s not sure - he’s feeling.

‘It was?’ Matt picks off the pieces of fluff he can feel on the blanket, trying to hide his confusion and fear.

Anna reaches out and steadies Matt’s hands, before taking them into hers. ‘You didn’t realise?’

Matt shrugs. ‘I’ve never really had anything to compare my magic to.’ Foggy coughs and Matt rolls his eyes. ‘At least not until Foggy.’

With a final squeeze Anna releases his hands. ‘Okay. So what did Foggy mean when he said you had no idea about magic?’

‘That I know nothing about your kind of magic,’ Matt gestures, waving a hand around, ‘with runes and rules.’  _ The formally taught magic, _  he thinks but does not say.

‘Oh,’ Edward and Anna say together and they’ve obviously picked up on the unspoken thought. Matt tries to go back to picking at the blanket.

But Anna catches his hands again and this time she uses her grip on him to pull him into a hug. ‘It’s okay Matt. It’s okay.’ She releases him. ‘Now, I hear you wanted a magical Christmas.’

‘I did,’ Matt smirks. ‘Foggy promised and I was expecting to have one.’ He can hear the change in their breathing that indicates surprise. ‘We were always going to tell you… just not until tomorrow morning.’

‘Why then?’

Foggy laughs. ‘Be-cause we w-,’ he breaks out into a coughing fit but manages to get it under control, ‘we were going to wait until lunch tomorrow but-,’ another cough but not a coughing fit, ‘we thought you were noticing.’

There’s a pause then Edward goes, ‘Oh. Last night. The spells - that was your magic Matt, wasn’t it? And the marshmallow spell was you?’

Matt nods. ‘So I’m told?’ He elbows Foggy, ‘Stop talking.’

‘I’m-’ he breaks off with another coughing fit that only proves Matt’s point. From downstairs he hears Candy calling out that dinner is ready and from the way Foggy jerks on the bed, he hears it too. Candy is rather loud.

‘So you were going to tell us tomorrow morning to avoid us finding out?’ Anna asks as she rises. 

‘Well that,’ Matt says as he gets off the bed and turns to help Foggy up, ‘and it was getting very, ah… hard to keep a straight face.’

Anna and Edward pause in the hallway. ‘Oh?’

Matt walks past, Foggy a step behind. ‘Yes well. Mrs N-’ Anna coughs and Matt changes mid-word, ‘Anna, your family can do many things but hide magic is not one of them. I’m blind not dumb.’

Laughing, he and Foggy head down to dinner leaving a sighing Anna and dumbstruck Edward behind them.

********

Dinner is tense at first and Matt can feel everyone’s eyes on him. He tries not to shrink into his chair and manages to keep eating at a normal pace. It’s hard though and for the first time since he got here, he doesn’t feel welcome.

Finally Foggy snaps. ‘Enough,’ he says as he fishes his pen out of his pocket. Matt turns his head in Foggy’s direction as his friend uncaps the pen. ‘There.’ 

‘Foggy-?’ Matt asks but cuts himself off when the salt rises then falls back to the table with a loud thump. 

Then it’s back in the air. ‘Matt, incoming.’ Surprised Matt reaches out a hand and the salt floats into it. 

‘But I don’t need the salt?’ he says as he turns the salt over and tries to locate the rune Foggy drew on it. He finds it; a slight difference from the glass of the salt shaker that he doubts anyone else could feel. 

Candy laughs, ‘That’s your only complaint about Foggy showing off?’ 

Matt shrugs and puts the salt shaker down. ‘He’s done far flashier things.’

The mood in the room noticeably picks up. ‘Do tell,’ Di says with joy. ‘Foggy’s been very tight lipped about-’

‘Don’t you dare Matt,’ Foggy cuts in. ‘I have as much shit on you as you do on me.’

Matt smirks. ‘And half those stories involve you too.’ He turns towards Di, ‘Did he ever tell you about the week he made it rain in our dorm?’

‘That was once! One day! Not a week! Unlike the time you managed to turn our microwave into a butterfly. Took us a week to catch it!’

Dinner passes far more agreeably as Matt and Foggy try to talk over each other; telling more and more outrageous stories. Foggy is forced to wash the dishes with Candy while everyone else moves into the living room so Matt takes the chance to tell his most ridiculous story. 

‘So it’s the first time Foggy tried to teach me runes and he draws out the first one. But well, he forgot the slight flaw of the fact that I can’t see it so he helps me trace it out-’ Anna hisses in realisation and Matt smirks in her direction, ‘-yes, exactly. He forgot to tell me how runes work-’

‘I did tell you!’ Foggy calls from the kitchen.

‘No you didn’t!’ Matt calls back. ‘I distinctly remember not being told, something that became clear when a tree started to grown in our dorm.’ 

Everyone starts to laugh, even Candy who’s drying dishes in the doorway. ‘A tree?’

Matt nods. ‘A tree. He’d had me trace Ehwaz-’ 

‘Eihwaz,’ Foggy corrects as he pushes past Candy, still shaking wet hands as he drops into the seat beside Matt. He’d tried to use magic to do the dishes but Anna had reminded him of the house ban on magic for chores, to Matt’s amusement.

‘-Eihwaz and well somehow that got a tree.’

Foggy sighs, ‘You still have no idea how runes work.’

‘Clear evidence you never told me.’ 

‘A rune used with no intention defaults to the literal meaning,’ Bianca says, vaguely bouncing in her seat. ‘That’s the first lesson of runes, how do you not know that?’ Matt bows his head as the room goes silent. ‘What?’

Anna shakes her head. ‘Bianca, not everyone is taught magic like us. Now drop it.’

‘But Mom-’

‘Drop it.’

Bianca sighs but does so. For a moment the room is awkwardly silent until Foggy jumps up. ‘Come on guys, let’s play Monopoly.’ There’s a chorus of sighs until Foggy adds, ‘magical Monopoly.’

‘Magical Monopoly?’ Matt asks as Di dashes off to get the game and everyone else starts to move things around so they can sit in the middle of the floor. 

‘Basically see how much cheating you can use magic for,’ Foggy says, ‘but we also have an enchanted board that moves the pieces on its own and conjures little realistic houses and hotels when you buy them. It’s very cool.’

Matt smiles. ‘It does sound cool.

*********

The game lasts three hours and Matt’s never had so much fun. Matt and Foggy are declared to be a team - which makes it fair as it seems Foggy is the worst player in the family - while Edward and Anna sit it out but do stay in the room to be ‘neutral’ referees. George, who can’t play because he lacks magic, heads home after ‘saying goodbye’ to Bianca. 

No one uses magic for the first twenty minutes, as everyone is focused on buying properties. 

Then Matt gets it into his head that he wants the only orange property he’s missing - New York Avenue - which belongs to Candy. So he asks her for it.

‘Candy? Can I swap you this for New York Avenue?’ he can practically hear Foggy’s confusion as Matt’s fairly sure the card in his hand is one of the green ones. He’d have to ask Foggy for the specifics. 

‘Sure!’ she says and takes the card, putting the one Matt wants in his hand. 

He smiles sweetly and the card in her hand disappears. ‘Thanks,’ he says over her outraged shriek. 

‘This means war,’ she says dangerously. 

‘Bring it on.’

Di bows out of the game two rounds of the board later, stating that she’d rather watch Matt and Candy fight when there’s no risk of being caught in the crossfire. Foggy’s basically only here to read the cards to Matt; leaving only Bianca playing them. By this point Candy’s managed to charm Matt’s $100 notes into $1 notes and Matt sneaks her little ship into jail using a sleight of hand movement - no one said he  _ only _  had to use magic to cheat, after all.

Bianca gets bankrupted when she lands on Candy’s hoteled Kentucky Avenue and noisily leaves the game, leaving only Matt and Candy. 

It takes another hour for Matt to strike with his final bit of magic. ‘Candy, can I have Boardwalk?’ he asks, his voice layered with his power. Before she can agree, Foggy hits him. Hard. Matt only just manages to suppress his instinct to strike back and turns to his friend, shock on his face. ‘Foggy?’

‘...And you have no idea why that’s wrong, do you?’ Nearly every heart in the room is racing and Matt feels a prickle of fear at whatever mistake he’s just made. He shakes his head and Foggy sighs. ‘You  _ don't _  use magic to influence a person’s will… not in a friendly game. It’s not _right_ .’

‘Oh God-’ Matt starts to rise but _Candy_  grabs him and holds him in place. 

‘Don’t listen to him. I was about to do the same-’ Anna and Foggy make wordless noises of protest, ‘-and he’s done much worse to me as a kid.’

Matt offers a small smile that does nothing for the guilt he’s feeling. ‘Well, I concede to you.’

‘No you don’t. Play the game.’ She pushes the dice into his hands. ‘And we’ll see whose will is stronger.’

********

Anna finally declares the game a tie and their wills equal as she banishes them to bed citing the need to be up early tomorrow to start preparing for Christmas.

Matt lies in his bed and listens to Foggy getting ready for bed. ‘I am sorry-’ he starts to say.

‘Matt, it’s fine. I ...overreacted. A bit.’ With a frown, Matt rolls over so he’s facing Foggy’s direction and raises an eyebrow. Foggy sighs. ‘Rosalind… she’s fond of vocal magic, like you used. I guess the fight today just brought it up.’

Anger roars through Matt at what Foggy is implying. ‘I should’ve made the curse  _ permanent.’ _  he growls and to his surprise Foggy laughs.

‘Sorry, just imagining Rosalind without a voice. It’s kinda hilarious.’ He laughs again before sighing. ‘Sadly, all magic wears down-’

‘I know Foggy, I know.’ Matt pushes down as much of his anger as he can and rolls over. He thinks for a long moment, then asks, ‘Foggy?’

‘Hmm?’ 

‘Was… was what I did to Rosalind wrong? In the magical community?’ It hurts to ask but Matt has to know. ‘It’s not much different to what I nearly did to Candy or… or what she did to you.’

He hears his friend sit up and with a sigh, taps at Matt’s shoulder so he rolls back over. It makes no difference to Matt’s ability to perceive his friend but he’s told people like being able to see his face. ‘Well firstly, different contexts. With Candy, you used a powerful magic we weren’t expecting in a silly game and I overreacted to it. Sorry.’ Matt opens his mouth to apologise, ‘No, don’t you apologise; it’s not like anyone explained that to you. But you didn’t actually affect Rosalind’s will, just her body. It’s different… she could still want to talk but you made it so she can’t until she understands why saying cruel things hurts.’

‘And that’s different from what she did to you, how?’

‘Intent. You reacted to someone being cruel; she was just being cruel. She intended to hurt and humiliate, I think you just wanted justice.’ Foggy’s being so generous here, thinking Matt just reacted and didn’t want to humiliate Rosalind. But trying to explain his calm, anger and the Devil in him is something beyond Matt’s words right now. 

So he just nods. ‘There’s a difference?’

‘There’s a difference,’ Foggy confirms and lies back down. 

‘Okay. Thank you. Goodnight.’

‘Goodnight.’

********

Matt drifts down to breakfast via the living room the next morning, dumping his carefully wrapped presents under the tree. He is therefore not focusing as he walks into the kitchen so when Di screams, ‘DUCK,’ it’s a surprise. Luckily, his reflexes kick in and he’s crouched down in a moment as something hot and large whizzes over his head. 

‘Di!’ Anna cries as she marches into the kitchen. ‘I’ve told you about the floating!’

But Di’s more interested in Matt. ‘That was fast. You have good reflexes.’

Matt gives her a mild smile. ‘I’m blind. If someone yells ‘duck’ I duck fast. It’s saved me a few trips to the hospital.’ He moves past her to the counter and reaches for the coffee pot. He starts to feel around for it when he notices it’s not where it’s supposed to be.

‘Oh, to your right,’ Candy calls out as she enters the kitchen. 

Matt pats around to the right and takes a deep breath. He can smell the coffee in the pot but it’s definitely out of reach. He focuses and flicks his fingers. The pot slides along the counter and stops just short of his hand with a loud chime. Smiling Matt grabs at the handle and feels around for a cup. 

‘Here,’ Anna says as she presses a cup into his hand. ‘That’s a handy spell.’

He shrugs as he pours himself a cup of coffee. ‘It helps though it’s not quite a spell… not like Foggy’s-’

‘Don’t compare yourself to Foggy,’ she cuts in. ‘Magic doesn’t work like that. Now, you have a choice-’

‘Hey, why does he get a choice?’ Bianca cries out from her seat at the dining table. 

‘Because I say so!’ Anna pats Matt’s arm. ‘You can help us with the cooking or help Foggy and the girls set up the dining room.’ 

Matt considers. On one hand he’s not going to be a lot of help cooking but it does mean free taste tests. ‘Setting up the dining room?’

‘Making it big enough to fit everyone,’ Anna clarifies and Matt’s eyes widen. They’re going to use magic to set up the room. 

‘I’ll help Foggy,’ he says and Anna laughs. 

‘I thought you’d say that.’

******** 

Setting up the dining room seems to consist of a lot of drawing symbols on paper. Foggy at least lets Matt trace the rune they’re using but it’s not something he can help much with.

Not until Foggy puts the last rune in place and Matt adds his magic to their spell. 

It takes a long moment but then Matt feels the walls of the room start to creep away. It throws his senses and balance off and he grabs at the chair beside him while his head spins. The walls keep moving and Matt’s grip tightens.

Then Foggy is there, at his side. He taps Matt’s elbow to let Matt know he’s there and Matt transfers his grip from the chair to Foggy’s arm. He hears Foggy’s low wince and goes to release him but Foggy grabs his arm. ‘Just hold on. It’ll be over in a moment.’

‘You feel it too?’

Foggy nods. ‘We’re all nodding; it’s part of the magic I think. Sorry I didn’t warn you-’ 

The walls stop moving with a dull but loud thud. No one moves for a long moment but then Matt takes a step on a floor that wasn’t there before. It feels steady under his feet and he slowly walks towards the cupboard that used to be two steps from the dining room table. 

It’s now nearly thirty steps away. Matt strikes it with his cane and turns back towards Foggy. ‘That’s one hell of a spell! Why haven’t we done it on our dorm?’

‘Because it’s kinda noticeable?’ Foggy calls across the room.

Matt nods then frowns. ‘How were you going to hide this from me?’ he asks Foggy’s sisters. None of them answer, instead standing there and shifting guiltily. ‘You weren’t just going to hope I didn’t notice? I’m blind not stupid.’

Foggy laughs. ‘You keep saying that like we didn’t hear it the first time.’

‘The way people treat me, sometimes I wonder if they did,’ Matt says softly. He knows everyone heard anyway and he’s just killed the mood in the room but he can’t find it in himself to care. 

Finally  Foggy breaks the silence. ‘Okay, decorating time.’

‘Shouldn’t we get the extra tables and chairs from the garage first?’

‘...Yes. Okay. Candy, you, Di and I will go do that. Bi-’ Bianca grumbles at the nickname, ‘-you and Matt start on the decorations. 

Matt raises an eyebrow. ‘You sure you want me to colour coordinate?’

Everyone laughs. ‘Oh there’s no colour coordination. Just throw tinsel everywhere and it’ll be far more festive than Uncle John’s was,’ Candy says as she follows her brother out of the room. ‘If it’s straight, we’ll have Uncle Rick’s beat!’

‘Ah got it. Low standards.’ Slowly Matt makes his way to the table and reaches into the box of tinsel Foggy had earlier told him was on it. He turns and goes to walk back to the wall.

‘Oh just use magic,’ Bianca says and Matt feels her magic in the air. He senses the tinsel throwing itself at the wall and smiles to himself when he realises it’s not straight. So he ignores Bianca and moves to the cupboard he’d tapped into earlier and slowly drapes tinsel over it. 

Then, and only then, does he push at his magic to copy this piece of tinsel’s careful positioning with the remainder in the box. It takes a minute or two but soon every piece of tinsel is stuck on the walls and Matt’s sure it looks extremely festive. He turns to Bianca with a smile.

‘Nice. But… You do realise you’ve got it covering the photos we’re supposed to be hanging it on?’

Matt blinks. ‘What photos?’

********

Matt moves - is banished really - to the kitchen to help Anna and Edward while Bianca fixes up the tinsel. It’s probably for the best; with all the furniture Foggy and his sisters are moving in Matt is either to end up tripping over a chair or running into a table he has to pretend he didn’t realise was there.

So he’s now the official taste tester. Which involves eating a lot of cookies and sampling a multitude of cuts of meat. A whole lot more than Matt would think is needed for taste testing - he’s basically always eating something right now.

‘Good?’ Anna says and Matt has to nod, unable to talk through the gingerbread in his mouth. ‘Good.’ She draws a rune in midair and the knives cutting the potatoes stop. She throws the potatoes onto a plate as Edward swoops in and moves the knives to the sink. Then he’s stepping out of her way as she heads to the fridge with the plates of assorted vegetables to be cooked tomorrow. It’s like a dance, one whose movements and timing they know like the back of their hands. It’s amazing.

And Matt can’t comment on it because as far as they’re concerned, he’s ‘seen’ none of it. So he just eats his samples and swallows his comments and an ache in his heart that he has no idea how to describe. 

‘What will you cook tomorrow?’ he asks when Anna returns to look at the lamb in the oven. 

‘Just the vegetables really. If I tried to cook all this tomorrow, even with magic it wouldn’t be ready until late at night.’ Matt hums in agreement and takes the slice of lamb she presses into his hand. ‘Cooked?’

He considers it, tasting the cooper of the blood. ‘Slightly underdone?’ 

‘I thought so.’ She shuts the oven with a thump. ‘You’re very good at this,’

Matt shrugs. ‘I can’t see if my food is cooked so I’ve had to figure out what it tastes like when it’s not done,’ he lies.

‘Well, you’re still very good.’ Foggy walks into the kitchen and heads straight for the cookies cooling on the bench. Anna’s there in a second, slapping his hands away. ‘No you don’t.’

‘Aww, Mom!’

‘No. Not until tomorrow.’ She slips Matt a cookie from the latest batch and he takes it with a raised eyebrow. The second her back is turned, he goes to pass it to Foggy. ‘Matt, that’s for you not Foggy.’ He freezes.

‘Mom!’

‘No! Matt is checking the taste for me.’ Matt gives Foggy half in the hope that can be snuck past Anna’s Mom radar. It must because she doesn’t comment, even if Edward huffs a laugh at their antics. ‘He’s my official taste tester. Next year don’t even bother trying to recruit him into decorating.’

Foggy starts to protest that Matt is _his_  friend but Matt’s not listening, too focused on the realisation that Anna expects him here for Christmas _next year_ . Like it’s a given Foggy will still be his friend and want Matt invading his family’s Christmas. That they’ll want him here.

‘Matt?’

Matt jerks out of his thoughts at Edward’s soft call, barely audible over Foggy and Anna’s joking but loud argument. ‘Sorry, just thinking.’

‘Looked like some serious thoughts there.’

He smiles as charmingly as possible. ‘Nothing important really.’ Edward sighs and Matt knows he doesn’t believe him but Edward doesn’t push. He just pats Matt on the back and gives him another cookie.

‘Another?’ Matt groans. ‘I’m not sure I can take much more food. I didn’t realise taste testing required eating quite this much.’

Both Anna and Edward’s hearts skip a beat and Matt frowns at the silence that takes over the room. ‘Well, it’s the best way to ensure the food is good,’ Anna lies. ‘One bite wouldn’t tell you anything.’

He decides to let the lie go and takes a bite of the cookie in his hand. When Anna and Edward turn back to the counter, Matt reaches out for Foggy and gives him the cookie. ‘Save me,’ he whispers into Foggy’s ear. ‘I think your parents are trying to fatten me up.’

‘I think so too,’ Foggy laughs in a low whisper. ‘Should we run before they try to cook you or after?’

‘If I decided to cook Matt,’ Anna cuts in with a laugh, ‘You wouldn’t have time to run.’ Matt jokingly ducks behind Foggy to hide from her. ‘Oh get out of here. Foggy, go show Matt the greenhouse. See how much you remember about herbs. Matt, I want a full report later; it’ll be a test for Foggy.’

Matt nods as Foggy drags him outside.

********

They stay in the greenhouse - which is far bigger on the inside than Matt expected - until just before dinner just running over the plants and their uses. It’s some of what Foggy has tried to teach him in their occasional attempts to share their magic with each other. But with the plants in front of him Matt can actually make sense of what Foggy’s rambling about and is sure he’ll remember it.

In fact, to ensure he does he takes a small cutting from a rosemary plant and feels his magic settle into it. This should help him remember every moment of this visit… he never wants to forget any of them.

********

They end up having sandwiches for dinner, eaten in the living room as Anna’s banned everyone from the kitchen and dining room. Matt takes a seat on the floor and is surprised when it’s not Foggy who sits next to him but Candy and Di. They don’t say anything but they’re sitting so close that Matt is supporting half of Candy’s weight and has Di’s shoulder brushing against him.

It’s nice.

Edward gets the fire going and the family settles into a comfortable silence. Matt relaxes into the lounge behind him and barely notices when someone swaps his plate out for a cup of hot chocolate - without marshmallows. He can hear the clicking of Edward’s knitting needles and Anna’s pen scratching on a book, along with feeling the occasional surges of their magic as they infuse their projects with spells. 

‘Matt?’ Bianca asks from her seat beside Foggy on the sofa. He hums in acknowledgement. ‘Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?’

The room takes a collective breath but Matt just smiles at the bittersweet memories. ‘No, we never had any traditions for Christmas Eve.’ He pauses to consider. ‘Well except Midnight Mass but we didn’t always make it to that. Christmas though,’ he huffs a laugh in the silent room, ‘Christmas morning it was always Dad who woke me. I swear he was more excited than I ever was. We always did presents first and Dad used to joke that I had none.’

‘Even after you lost your sight?’ Di asks.

‘Especially after.’ Matt doesn’t mention the fact he’d only had one Christmas with his Dad after losing his sight before… well before he lost his Dad. He’d died a few months shy of their second Christmas. ‘Then we’d go to Morning Mass if we hadn’t made the Midnight Mass and after that, we spent the day together.’

‘Doing what?’

Matt shrugs. ‘Anything we wanted. Once Dad tried to play with the skateboard I’d gotten.’ He smirks at the memory of the look on his Dad’s face when it had started to move. It had been homemade, Matt remembered, too rough looking to have been store bought. He’d loved it anyway. ‘And we didn’t always have a fancy Christmas lunch but we’d always have dessert for dinner. Because it was Christmas.’

‘Sounds nice,’ Foggy says and Matt sighs and leans back. 

‘It was. What about you guys?’

‘Christmas morning is ours,’ Anna says, pride in her voice. ‘We’ll open presents and have breakfast as a family.’

Foggy snorts. ‘Yeah, the mob doesn’t show up until lunchtime when there’s a chance of food.’

‘Don’t call your family a mob,’ Edward says and Matt can hear the smile in his voice, ‘they’re a pride at best.’

‘No, a pack!’ Bianca calls out and the room descends into naming terms for groups of animals. 

Matt wins the game when he calls them a ‘murder’ and no one can stop laughing long enough to one up him.

********

‘Hey Matt?’ Foggy asks around ten o’clock. ‘Do you want to go to Midnight Mass? There’s a Catholic Church three blocks away we can go to.’

A part of Matt wants to say no, it’ll be too much of a fuss but a larger part of him loves the one Christmas tradition that didn’t die with his father. ‘If it’s not too much of a hassle?’

‘Of course it isn’t,’ Anna says. ‘We can all go.’ Her voice is soft but her tone is final. No one grumbles about having to go either and Matt feels something happy burst inside him.

So at half past eleven everyone pulls themselves out of their comfortable position and goes for their gloves and scarves. Foggy leads the way and they slip into the back of the church as the midnight bell rings. 

Matt listens to the familiar ceremony, his friend’s family around him and feels content and peaceful.

********

As soon as they walk through the doors, they’re sent straight to their beds by an insistent Anna. ‘I want everyone up by seven, no complaining!’ She pauses then must smile as Matt can hear it in her voice. ‘Merry Christmas.’

A chorus of voices echo it back at her as her children - and Matt - make their way up the stairs.

‘Merry Christmas,’ Matt whispers to Foggy as he gets ready for bed. It’s probably the first time he’s wished someone close to him a Merry Christmas since his Dad, and the thought makes something inside him hurt.

‘Merry Christmas Buddy.’ Foggy reaches for his shoulder and gives it a squeeze. Smiling, Matt pats at it and hopes the emotions he’s feeling aren’t visible in his face.

Considering Foggy’s next move is to pull him into a brief hug, he’s not sure he managed but he doesn’t actually care.

********

‘WAKE UP,’ a female voice screams and Matt jerks awake, fighting his sheets as panic floods through him. Her scream is still echoing in his ears and if he can get to her in time he can he-

‘Come on Foggy. Wake up,’ Bianca screams again as she bounces into the room and throws herself at the bed. Matt’s panic begins to subside as logic kicks in and he realises it was Bianca’s cry that woke him.

Foggy groans under weight of his sister. ‘Bi, it’s not even six. You’re fifteen not five, what are you doing?’

Matt can hear the grin in Bianca’s voice. ‘But I thought you liked being woken up.’

‘No one likes being woken up by _screaming_ ,’ Foggy snaps and Matt rolls over. 

‘Is this what having siblings is like?’ 

‘Worse,’ Foggy says as their doorway opens again and Di slips into the room, bringing in the scent of her apple shampoo that makes Matt’s nose twitch. ‘Siblings are hell Matt, you don’t want any.’

He smiles as Di gasps, a clearly exaggerated gesture. ‘Foggy, you wound me! Candy, Foggy’s being cruel!’

Candy appears in the doorway, panting from her run down the hallway. ‘We can’t have that! Attack!’

‘No!’ Foggy cries as his sisters all thrown themselves at him. Matt dives to the side to avoid the flailing limbs as his friend starts to laugh. ‘Stop, no tickling! Matt, help! Help!’

Matt raises his hands. ‘I’m not getting involved when there’s that many people in one spot.’ He recalls a spell he used on Foggy once and focuses. With a wriggle of his fingers, he releases it.

Foggy’s laughter increases as Matt’s tickling spell takes effect. With a creak of the bed, his sisters back off.

‘What spell is _that_ ?’ Candy asks in wonder. Matt shrugs and repeats the movement.

Unfortunately he’s focusing on her when he does it and he doesn’t manage to cut the magic off before he releases it. Her laughter joins Foggy and Matt raises his hand to his face in surprise. ‘Oops.’

Di and Bianca look at each other. ‘WAR,’ they cry in unison and that’s the only warning Matt gets before they jump onto his bed and start trying to tickle him. 

‘No! I’m sorry, no!’ he laughs.

‘Release our sister, you fiend!’ Di cries as she tickles Matt’s ribs. 

‘And Foggy?’

‘Eh, leave him.’

Matt is breathless but manages to focus enough to snap his fingers and release the spells. Di and Bianca back off when their siblings’ laughter stops. 

‘If you kids are finished?’ Edward says from the doorway, causing everyone to jump. ‘It’s present time.’

‘I thought that wasn’t until seven?’ Foggy pants.

Edward shrugs - something Foggy narrates - and says, ‘well since we’re all awake, might as well get started early.’

‘We’re all awake?’

‘Like anyone on the _block_  slept through your screaming, Bi,’ Di jokes then sprints out of the room, Bianca on her heels. ‘You can’t catch me!’

‘Don’t run in the house!’

********

It takes a while but Anna manages to herd them downstairs and into the living room. Matt takes a seat on the sofa and Foggy flops down beside him, with Candy on Foggy’s other side. Di collapses in front of the sofa and Bianca sits as close to the tree as she can. Matt’s sure she’s inching forward every time she thinks her parents aren’t looking. 

Anna starts shuffling presents around while nudging Bianca back. ‘Okay, first present up.’ For a moment the living room turns into a conveyor line as they all pass presents around. 

Matt ends up with a soft package which doesn’t feel like the one he’s sure he sensed Foggy packing. He runs his hands over it until he finds the tag. ‘Foggy?’ he asks, holding it out.

‘Oh right. Um, To Matt from Candy, Di and Bianca.’ Matt jerks in surprise and turns his head towards Foggy’s sisters.

He can sense the blood in their cheeks. ‘It’s nothing really. Got it before you came. Just, open it,’ Candy stammers. 

Ducking his head to hide his face, Matt opens the present. It’s definitely some kind of sweater - he can smell the wool - but running his hands over it doesn’t yield any insights. So he unfolds it, and feels out the sleeves and fron-

Foggy starts to laugh. ‘You did _not_ .’ Matt raises an eyebrow at his friend. ‘Oh sorry Matt. They bought you a red sweater that says ‘The Devil? Who me?’ Seriously guys?’ Matt smirks but runs his hands over it again. It doesn’t feel storebought… 

His sisters must be looking shifty because Foggy pauses, ‘You did buy it right?’ He gently takes the sweater from Matt and examines it. ‘Huh. Okay that’s awesome.’ Matt takes the sweater back, barely caring they used a wool that irritates his skin because they  _ made _  it. Before they even met him. 

‘Thank you,’ he says softly. 

‘Thank Di; it’s her work. I just found out from Foggy what you’d find funny-’

‘I didn’t do-’

Anna cuts off the fight before it begins. ‘Girls, no fighting on Christmas.’ 

It’s then the doorbell rings. ‘Oh, that’s Heather!’ Candy cries as she leaps from the sofa. A moment she’s back in the room, followed by a tall woman. ‘Heather, that’s Matt. Matt, this is Heather.’

Matt reaches out a hand, unable to get up with Foggy basically sitting on him. Heather takes his hand gently and shakes it. ‘Nice to meet you,’ she says, her voice soft and sweet. 

‘Don’t bother hiding;’ Bianca says from the middle of her pile of wrapping paper, ‘Foggy lied about Matt being mundane.’ 

‘Bianca!’ Five voices cry in unison. ‘You don’t out people!’ Anna adds as Matt sighs and smiles. 

‘It’s fine,’ he calls as Foggy presses another heavy and square present into his hands. ‘I don’t mind.’

Foggy pats his thigh, ‘It does kinda matter. Budge up Buddy.’ Matt shifts as far over as he can and somehow they manage to fit four people onto the three seater sofa. It’s… cozy. ‘Oh and that’s from Mom and Dad.’

Carefully Matt unwraps the present and pauses when his hands find clear lamination on cardboard… it’s a book? He opens it and gets a nose full of the musty scent that means this is not only a book, it’s an  _ old _  book.

‘Hey, isn’t that mine?’ Foggy asks, shifting so Matt’s elbow isn’t in his ribs. ‘My first spell book?’ There’s an awkward silence in the room, ‘Mom, Dad you do know Matt can’t read this?’

‘He can’t?’ Anna asks and there’s something in her voice. 

Matt frowns and runs his hand over the title page… and pauses. Because it is slightly raised…. he traces out the rune. To his surprise, he feels his magic rising as he casts the spell. 

Nothing happens. He raises an eyebrow and runs his hand over the tit-

_ ’How to use plants in magic’ _  Anna’s voice reads and Matt nearly drops the book in surprise. He flicks to a random page, repeating the motion.  _ ’Rosemary: good for memory spells _ .’ The scent of rosemary rises from the page, filling Matt’s senses and making his eyes water. At least, that’s what he’s going to claim if anyone asks. 

He’s breathing hard, trying to keep a hold on his emotions when he raises his head. ‘Th-thank you bu-’

Foggy’s grip on his thigh tightens. ‘What Matt is going to say is thank you.’ Matt opens his mouth to protest again but Foggy just tightens his grip again. ‘Matt,’ he warns. 

Matt gives in. ‘Thank you.’

Anna’s smile is in her voice, ‘You’re welcome dear. I’m sorry it’s a bit rushed but because of your… deception, I only had a few nights to work on it.’

Only a few nights? Matt runs a hand over the book again, feeling the magic and care that went into it. All in a few nights? She did this for him in a few nights? She did this  _ for him _ .

‘Heather, this little one is for you.’ Matt is so wrapped up in his book that he barely pays attention to the rest of the family.

At least, until Heather screams. He jerks, elbowing Foggy in the ribs before the note of joy in Heather’s voice registers with him. 

‘Candy, you don’t me-’ Matt focuses his senses as Candy slips off the sofa and kneels.

No, goes down on one knee. ‘Heat-’

‘YES,’ Heather cries as she throws herself at Candy. Foggy’s a step behind her, pulling his sister and her gi-fiancee up and into a hug. Matt laughs, caught up in the joy of the room. But then he’s being pulled to his feet by Foggy, who bear hugs him before he’s even fully upright. The moment Matt is released, he’s grabbed by Candy for another hug.

It turns into a whirlwind of hugging and Matt loses track of which members of the family he’s hugged. Finally he manages to fall onto the sofa, listening to the celebration happening around him. After a long while Foggy collapses into the seat beside Matt, passing over a small and light package. ‘From me; I just realised it got forgotten in the chaos.’

‘Did you find mine?’ 

‘Yeah, it’s kinda obvious. Wrapped inside out, sorry Buddy.’

Matt smirks. ‘Good. I thought I’d screwed it up and wrapped it the right way.’ Foggy laughs and Matt can hear him unwrapping the ties Matt got him. He only hopes the shop assistant didn’t lie and they’re completely awful; just like Foggy somehow likes. At least now he’ll have the excuse of his blind friend picking them out. From the way Foggy gasps in delight, they’re as awful as described. 

Carefully, Matt unwraps Foggy’s gift to him. It doesn’t smel- Oh it’s paper. Paper? He feels along it, freezing when he feels the braille on it. ‘Foggy…’

‘I hope it’s accurate. I had to use a translator in the end.’ He shrugs. ‘Couldn’t learn enough in time. Sorry it’s nothing fancy but well, I’m kinda broke.’

It’s a series of notecards of legal terms, statutes and key cases, much like the flash cards Matt knows Foggy uses. Matt had never bothered to make any because the amount of paper and work seemed like a waste of time to spend on himself when he had his notes on his laptop. ‘Foggy…’

‘I figured they might come in handy when you’re a lawyer. A quick way to look up th-’ Foggy cuts off with an ‘oof’ as Matt pulls him into a quick but tight hug. 

‘Thank you.’ 

‘You’re welcome.’

********

Edward is the one to remember that they have guests coming and things to finish off before they arrive. He prods them into action, sending everyone upstairs to change into their clothes before tackling the last of the cooking and decorating. Matt pulls on the sweater he was given and is sent into the kitchen. This time at least he manages to do more than just taste test, taking over the baking of the pumpkin and potatoes while Anna makes a gravy.

‘Come here Matt,’ she says under a half hour before everyone is due to arrive. He helps her lug out the hams and various birds they cooked the day before, cocking his head when she doesn’t try to heat them up but places them on the bench. ‘Give me your hand.’

He does and she uses it to draw out a rune. They repeat the motion until it’s fixed in Matt’s mind. ‘What does this do?’

‘It’ll heat the food so it’s just like it was when I pulled it out of the oven yesterday.’ They draw the rune once more but this time they put their magic behind it. Matt’s mouth waters when the meats slowly heats up, filling the room with the scent of a freshly baked Christmas dinner. 

‘Handy,’ he says and moves to get his potatoes out of the oven.

********

By the time the first of Foggy’s extended family - the murder they’re calling them now - arrives Matt is perched on a chair in the corner of the extended dining room. It’s a good thing too, because soon his senses are muddled by the mass of people that fill the dining room, not helped by the scents of the foods they bring with them nor the noise of the excited kids. 

Luckily, Foggy doesn’t leave his side and keeps up a steady stream of narration. ‘Okay, Aunt Joy just ran into Aunt Sally. Like literally ran into her and well, Aunt Joy is Uncle John’s wife and no one likes her but Aunt Sally  _ hates _  everyone I swear. She’s actually a great-Aunt but no one calls her that because we’d never keep it straight.’

‘I don’t know how you keep it straight  _ now _ ,’ Matt laughs. 

Foggy shrugs. ‘You get used to it when you grow up with it.’ Matt lowers his head and Foggy seems to realise he’s said something wrong. ‘Oh… sorry.’

‘What are you sorry for?’ an elderly woman asks as she practically appears beside them.

‘Grandma!’ Foggy cries with delight and pulls the woman into a hug. It lasts a long time and Matt takes the chance to focus his senses on her. She’s short and built much like Foggy, the scent of fertilizer and lavender clinging to her. He can taste the chocolate on her breath and the cookies on her hands. Sweet tooth.

‘And who’s this?’ They finally separate and Foggy’s Grandma turns her attention to Matt. 

‘Oh, Grandma, this is my roommate Matt. Matt this is my Grandma Nelson.’ 

Matt offers his hand with a smile. ‘Pleased to meet you. Foggy’s told me a lot about you.’

‘You’re a charmer,’ she replies as she shakes his hand. ‘Foggy’s not said a word.’

He raises an eyebrow as Foggy splutters next to him. ‘So he’s only told me a few things. Like you’re a good gardener.’ 

‘Don’t flirt with my Grandma!’ Foggy finally manages to say and both Matt and Grandma Nelson laugh.

‘If you think this is flirting Franklin, you have a lot to learn. Frankie could manage to make any sentence a flirting one but never so that my parents noticed.’ Matt blinks in surprise at the use of Foggy’s first name twice...no, wait- ‘He had such a way with words, my Frankie.’

‘I have a way with words,’ Foggy grumbles and she laughs. 

‘Only the written ones.’

Matt finally finds his voice. ‘You were named for your Grandpa?’ he asks.

Foggy nods, ‘Oh yeah, I was. Well, actually not Grandpa. Rosalind-’ and here Matt can hear both the hate in Foggy’s voice and Grandma Nelson’s disgusted hiss, ‘-named me for her father but I prefer to think of it as Grandpa’s name.’

‘And why Foggy?’ Matt asks slyly, having been unable to con it out of his roommate. 

Grandma Nelson laughs. ‘Oh, he’s not told you? Foggy, fetch me a chair!’ He must give her a look because she snaps her fingers and says, ‘don’t look at me like that. Move!’ Grumbling he moves off and she takes his now empty seat. The sly woman. Matt is impressed. ‘Now, that nickname started when he was, oh three and got into his mother’s - Anna that is - soaps while she was cooking dinner. Somehow he managed - and we’re still not sure how - to turn the bath on and get the soap into it.‘ Matt smiles at the image of a tiny Foggy battling with a bathtub full of soaps.

‘So then Foggy decide that there weren’t enough bubbles and used his magic - for the first time too, at such a young age - to make more. Only he screwed up-’

‘Understandably,’ Matt interjects.

-and created steam instead. Well by the time Anna noticed, the entire house was starting to fog up and all Franklin could say was ‘I foggy! I foggy!’. He refused to answer to anything else for a month and by that time the nickname had stuck.’

‘Mother!’ A man says, interrupting Grandma Nelson’s story. She sighs and turns away from Matt.

‘Warrick, I was talking,’ she says, reproach in her voice. ‘You shouldn’t interrupt.’

Matt feels like bowing his head and he’s not the one being told off. So it’s not a surprise to him when the man - Warrick? Foggy hadn’t mentioned a Warrick - sounds apologetic. ‘Sorry Mother. I just wanted to ask abou-,’ he pauses and Matt thinks he must be looking Matt up and down, ‘-about Sarah’s piano lessons.’

‘Your daughter plays piano?’ Grandma Nelson asks. ‘News to me.’ She pats Matt on the arm, ‘Sorry I have to go schedule magic lessons with my ‘dear’ son. Stay here and I’ll be right back.’

‘Mother!’

Matt gives Warrick a soft smile. ‘It’s okay, I know.’ He can hear the relief in Warrick’s heartbeat as he leads Grandma Nelson away.

‘Don’t mind Rick,’ a man says and Matt manages to hide his jump. He wasn’t focusing, damn it. ‘He’s a bit full of himself.’ The man reaches out a hand. ‘I’m John, Foggy’s uncle.’

Cautiously, Matt reaches out his hand making sure it’s miles away from John’s. ‘Matt Murdock, Foggy’s roommate.’

John takes his hand without comment. ‘I figured. You’re the only person here I didn’t recognise.’

Matt blinks. ‘You can keep track of everyone you’re related to? I think even Foggy struggles with it.’ He gives John a shy smile. ‘I’ve no hope.’

Laughing, John takes the empty chair. ‘I’ve a good memory. But don’t worry, most of us won’t expect you to know our names until the third or fourth holiday.’ Matt’s heart clenches at yet another casual reference to him coming to future holidays. ‘My Joy still relies on me for at least half the adults and all the kids.’

‘There is an army of children here,’ Matt quips and John laughs. 

‘One day the Nelson child army will take over New York.’ There’s a pause and when John speaks again some of the kindness has faded from his voice. ‘You and Foggy are good friends, right?’

Matt looks down. ‘Best friends. He’s… he’s amazing.’ Unspoken is the fact that Foggy’s the closest friend Matt’s ever had.

John hums. ‘Foggy’s probably going to be the first of us to graduate with a post-grad degree, you know that?’ Matt nods. Foggy’s mentioned before that he’s only the fifth person in his family to even make it to college, let alone to anything like law school. ‘And he’s told you about his… gifts?’

Confused at where this is going, Matt frowns. ‘He’s told me that he’s magical, yes. Um-’

‘So you also know that magic can’t be used to get ahead, right? That you can’t use him to get a boost.’ John’s voice is dangerous and angry.

But Matt’s angry too. ‘I’m aware,’ he says just as dangerously. ‘I would never dream of using my  _ best _  friend like that. Ho-’

‘Oh good,’ John cuts in, suddenly friendly. Matt blinks in confusion at the sudden shift. ‘Sorry, had to do it. Foggy’s been lucky so far but some of the kids have had massive issues with that kind of thing. I’ve gotten into the habit of scaring their dates-’ Matt’s eyes widen and he shakes his head but John must not see him, ‘-off as early as possible. Especially the dangerous ones.’

Matt blinks. ‘Dangerous ones?’

‘Yeah, I’m confused about that too. I can tell if someone’s dangerous, part of my magic, and you’re screaming danger at me.’ Matt can hear the movement of his muscles as he frowns. ‘But you’re not dangerous too. It’s confusing.’

Matt’s sure he knows why he’s dangerous -  _ Murdock boys have the Devil in them _ \- but he knows something else that might be an excuse for John. Focusing, he recalls the feeling of the good fortune spell of Foggy’s Grandpa and pushes it onto John.

‘Oh!’ John breathes as the spell settles on him. ‘Huh. And I just warned you about using Foggy’s magic…’

‘I hope you’ll do the same to Foggy for me,’ Matt smiles. ‘Or no one else will.’ There’s a silence after Matt’s words and it dawns on him that he might’ve said something wrong. ‘Mr Nelson?’

‘Call me John, Matt.’ 

Matt bites his lip and doesn’t state that it still feels slightly odd to call people significantly older than him by their first name. He nods instead. ‘Okay ...John.’

‘Good man.’ He pats Matt’s knee. ‘Foggy’s on his way over. I’ll see you both at the snowball fight.’

‘Oh man Uncle John, please tell me we’re on your team,’ Foggy says as he comes into earshot. 

John laughs. ‘Sorry no. You’ll be on your father’s team.’ He sounds certain, like he’s stating a fact.

But Matt can tell Foggy is confused. ‘Huh. I thought Aunt Cathy was doing the teams this year.’

‘She is?’ There’s a long silence. ‘Oh damn it,’ John swears and Foggy laughs. ‘Just a guess! Don’t tell Joy or she’ll be awful about it.’

Finally Matt remembers what Foggy said about his Uncle John and his Sight. ‘Your secret is safe with us.’

‘I know Matt,’ John pauses and seems to look Matt over. ‘You keep your secrets, don’t you? You’ll regret it one day.’ His voice is distant and sends shivers down Matt’s shine. ‘You’ll regret it but fortune and love is on your side.’ He walks off before either Matt or Foggy can respond.

‘What the hell?’ Matt eventually manages. 

Foggy shrugs as he takes the empty seat. ‘First rule of the Sight; if it doesn’t make sense ignore it. When he’s not making correct guesses, Uncle John can be so _weird_ __ and you might drive yourself nuts trying to figure out if it’s a vision or just Uncle John’s oddities.’ He passes Matt a plate. ‘I grabbed some food; we’re going to need our strength for the snowball fight.’

‘Snowball fight?’

*********

It turns out that one of the traditions of the massive Nelson gathering is the snowball fight. Technically it involves organised teams of vaguely related people (non-Nelsons are kept with their Nelson counterpart) throwing around snow magically created by Foggy’s Aunt Cathy, the weather witch (Foggy’s words, not Matt’s).

In reality, it is a free for all of snow, ice and screaming. Alliances shift faster than the snowballs fly and the only person Matt can trust right now is Foggy. They’ve holed themselves up in the corner of the garden. Matt’s using his magic to make and maintain a wall of snow that shields them from the worst of the attacks while also trying to keep Foggy armed with a supply of snowballs. 

The fact that Foggy’s aim is absolutely awful does not help.

‘I thought you played softball!’ Matt growls as Foggy misses for the fourth time in a row.

‘I did! As a _batter_ . I can throw a ball but these snowballs keep disintegrating!’

Matt sniffs in outrage. ‘Are you complaining about my snowball construction skills?’

‘Hell yeah I am! These are  _ awful _ .’

They are really, Matt’s rapid pace not leaving him enough time to make anything even half decent. But he’s not going to let Foggy know that. ‘If they’re so bad, make your own!’ Before Foggy can register what Matt means, he grabs a huge handful of snow, pulls back the back of Foggy’s coat and dumps it down his shirt.

Foggy _screams_  and Matt rolls away laughing, losing his grip on the snow wall as he does so. It collapses.

On top of him. For a moment or two everything is muffled and dark before Foggy is there, his hand pulling Matt out of the snow pile he’s buried in. 

‘Matt, you okay?’ Around them, the sounds of the battle have ceased as everyone pauses to see if Matt’s alright.

Blinking, Matt pats around for his glasses. A second later, Foggy hands them to him. ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

Foggy starts to laugh. ‘Oh man, you just got justice for me… for your own actions! That was so good.’ The battle starts up again but Foggy tugs Matt towards the house, dodging stray snowballs as best he can. 

‘Oh so that was funny?’ Matt says but there’s a smile in his voice.

‘If you’re not hurt, it’s always hilarious.’ 

********

The moment they get inside Grandma Nelson bullies them out of their wet things and into the living room in front of the fire. Before Matt can process that, there’s a cup of hot chocolate in his hands and she moves onto the pair of cousins just coming in the door.

He blinks down at his drink. ‘What just happened?’

‘Grandma,’ Foggy says simply as if that’s an explanation. After a moment, Matt makes a noise of agreement because, yeah okay. It is. He takes a slip of his drink and leans over a bit, so he’s resting against Foggy’s side. ‘What are you doing?’ Foggy says sleepily. 

‘Stealing body heat.’

‘...okay.’

********

‘Foggy! Foggy!’ 

Excited young voices screaming at his friend jerk Matt out of the doze he’s been in. He blinks and focuses as thre- no, four young children come running into the living room.

‘Cousins! How many of you come to challenge the Foggy?’ Foggy cries as he struggles out of his blanket cocoon. Matt hides his smirk in his own cocoon. ‘Be ware, I have back up this time.’

‘Five! There’s five of us!’ one of the girls declares. 

Matt frowns and counts again. One, two, three, four. Yup, only four- no, there she is. A fifth girl, sneaking in behind them.

Foggy clearly can’t see her. ‘I only count four! Have you forgotten how to count Alice?’ 

The girl is a step away and Matt can hear her preparing to spring. He waits until she’s committed to the jump before crying, ‘Behind you Foggy!’

His friend is good; he turns in time to catch his cousin and swing her round. ‘Gotcha!’

‘Again! Again!’ the cousin in the air cries. 

But Alice is frowning at Matt. ‘How’d you see her? You weren’t looking.’ She sounds upset, like Matt spoiled her fun. 

‘I didn’t see her,’ Matt says as he wriggles out of his cocoon. ‘I heard her footsteps.’ He glances in her direction, ‘I’m blind, I can’t see her at all. So I have to listen.’

‘Oh. That’s cool. Like a superpower!’ Alice says and Matt laughs.

‘Exactly like that. I’m Matt. Who are you?’

‘I’m Alice! And this is Andy and Aaron and Dusty.’ She points to each child in turn. ‘And that’s Sarah,’ she says as she points at the child Foggy’s still spinning around.

‘I can talk!’ the one she pointed to when saying Dusty says.’ I’m Dusty and that’s And-’

The final girl stamps her foot. ‘I’m Andy and I can talk for myself.’

Matt laughs. ‘Nice to meet you Alice, Dusty, Andy and Aaron.’

The boy yet to speak makes a series of gestures. ‘Aaron says hi,’ Alice translates. ‘He’s mul… mu… t…  He can’t talk aloud.’ Ah. Matt smiles and waves. ‘Aunt Sally says he’s going to be ‘bloody useless’ at magic-’

Anger floods Matt at both the basic idea and the familiarity of the statement - he’s heard something like it a few times after his blinding; though never directed at his magic. ‘No he won’t be,’ he snaps as he finally gets free of the blanket. He focuses and breathes into his hands. It takes a second for his magic to remember his father’s spell but then he feels it forming and releases it. He can’t see it but he knows when he lowers his hands there’s a butterfly hovering there. 

‘Oh!’ The five kids say, Foggy’s voice echoing them a moment later. 

A flurry of movement then, ‘Can Aaron touch it?’ Matt flicks his fingers at Aaron in answer, freeing the butterfly to flutter around his head. They all squeal in delight, causing a chorus of ‘another’s’. Matt obliges. 

Foggy picks up on the spell quick enough - although Matt can smell the ink  he’s using to channel his magic - and soon the room is full of butterflies. Matt is ninety percent sure they’re all in festive colours but having no frame of reference he only has the children’s declarations and the knowledge he was aiming for green and red when creating them.

‘More, more!’ Sarah calls, jumping around the room. Mat collapses back into his blanket, drained by the show of magic. 

‘No more,’ he says. ‘Unless you make them yourself.’ All the children pause. Then Matt feels their magic build… but he can instantly feel it’s building  _ wrong _ . ‘No!’

It’s too late. Aaron releases his spell first and Matt can hear the fluttering of wings as the _real_  butterflies he just conjured escape into the room. It only takes a moment for the room to be full of real butterflies, their wings creating a persistent hum in Matt’s ears. 

‘Oops,’ Foggy says, laughter in his voice as the panicked kids scamper. Matt throws a pillow in his direction and scores a direct hit. 

********

It takes an hour for Foggy and Matt to un-conjure the butterflies and a half hour after that to track down the kids to apologise for not showing them the spell properly. 

When he finds him, Matt presses a butterfly made of a napkin he folded into Aaron’s hand. ‘Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t,’ he whispers. Aaron hugs his legs before running off.

Exhausted, Matt decides to hide for the rest of the afternoon. He’s only been in Foggy’s room a half hour when Anna finds him. ‘You okay Matt?’

He smiles as reassuringly as he can and pauses the book he’d been listening to. ‘Just tired.’

‘I know, it’s a lot.’ She takes a seat on his bed. ‘I remember my first Christmas with them. I wanted to hide after an hour and by the third I’d hidden in four different spots and been found each time.’

‘Impressive.’

‘It was a bit.’ With a pat of his knee, she rises. ‘Just letting you know the last of the family should be leaving in a half hour or so and we’ll be having dinner then.’

She leaves before Matt can manage to ask how anyone could want dinner after eating food all day.

********

‘I promise I’ll call Mrs Nelson,’ Matt says to Grandma Nelson, the last of Foggy’s family to leave. She’s spending the next two days with her sister’s family else she’d be staying. 

‘Pah, call me Grandma or Ellie. None of this ‘Mrs Nelson’ nonsense.’ She pats Matt’s cheek. ‘You call and I’ll see what I can teach you.’ 

Matt smiles. ‘Thank you...Ah. Ellie.’

She sighs. ‘Well, that’s a start.’ With a final kiss of everyone’s cheeks, she leaves and Matt can hear the tension sag out of the family. 

‘Thank God that’s over,’ George says. ‘Bianca, I say it every year but your family is nuts.’

‘Like you can talk, you only showed up at midday!’ Bianca snaps but Matt can hear the smile in her voice.

Anna pokes her head into the hallway. ‘No fighting children. Come on, it’s dinner time.’

To Matt’s surprise, no one groans. Instead they dutifully follow Anna into the dining room, Matt on Foggy’s elbow. ‘How is anyone hungry?’ he asks as they take a seat at what Foggy says is the ‘cleanest’ table. Matt is kinda glad he can’t see the other tables if this is the cleanest. 

‘It’s not a large one,’ Edward says as he walks out from the kitchen. ‘Nor is it a fancy one, sorry Matt.’

He frowns, sniffing the air. He can smell vanilla, milk and a hint of nuts. Wait… ‘What? Why?’ A bowl is set down in front of him and it dawns on Matt that they’re having dessert. For dinner. Dessert. Something wells up in him and he bites at his lip. Gently he touches the rim of the bowl and feels the coldness of the ice cream inside it.

‘The kids cleaned us out of everything but vanilla ice cream and Foggy said you’re not allergic to nuts as a topping,’ Anna says. ‘Next year I’ll put something fancier aside… unless there’s a particular dessert you want?’

Caught in his emotions, Matt can only shake his head. He can’t find the words; they did this for him. They did this for him.

‘Matt, you okay?’ Foggy asks, nudging the spoon towards his hand and Matt realises he’s been touching the rim of the bowl and not eating for a long time.

‘I’m fine,’ he says as he swallows his emotions and picks up his spoon. He takes his first bite of vanilla -  _ vanilla _  - ice cream and blinks back the emotions trying to leak out of the corner of his eyes. ‘I’m perfectly fine.’

And he realises, surrounded by Foggy’s family on Christmas Day, that he might actually be fine.

Better than fine maybe. 

It was a good feeling.


End file.
